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1766  (Garner,  Phila.):  Eng.,  writ.,  accts. 
(McCain,  Phila.) '•  surv.,  nav. 
(Oliphant,  Phila.):  writ.,  arith.  math. 

(Academy,  Phila.):  "the  languages,"  math.,  mer.  accts.,  writ., 

arith. 
(Thorne,  Phila.):  writ.,  arith.,  mer.  accts.,  mens.,  surv.,  gaug., 

nav. 
(Alex.  Power,  Phila.):  Eng.,  writ.,  arith.,  bk-kp.,  geom.,  mens., 

trig.,  surv.,  nav.,  geog.,  astr.,  alg.,  conic  sections,  Auctions. 
(Ehrenzeller,  Phila.):  Ger. 
(Webster,  Phila.):  geog.,  logic,  Eng. 
(Carroll,  N.  Y.):  writ.,  arith.,  bk-kp.,  geom.,  alg.,  conic  sections. 

1767  (Griffith,  Boston):  writ.,  arith. 
(Hughes,  N.  Y.):  writ.,  arith. 

1768  (Dayton,  Newport):  read.,  writ.,  arith. 
(Lamb,  N.  Y.):  read.,  writ.,  arith.,  nav. 
(Griffith,  Boston):  writ.,  arith. 

1769  (Dayton,  Newport):  read.,  writ.,  arith. 

1770  (Pine,  Phila.):  writ.,  arith. 

(Maguire,  Phila.):  read.,  writ.,  arith.,  accts. 

(Stiles,  Phila.):  writ.,  arith.,  "&:c." 

(Oliphant,  Phila.):  writ.,  arith.,  math.,  mer.  accts. 

(Ellison,  Phila.):  writ.,  arith.,  nav.,  math. 

(Fentham,  Phila.):  Fr. 

(Thorne,  Phila.):  writ.,  arith.,  mer.  accts.,  mens.,  gaug.,  surv., 

nav. 
(Daymon,  Phila.):  Fr. 
(Ehrenzeller,  Phila.):  Ger. 
(Robinson,  N.  Y.) :  bk-kp. 
(Girault,  N.  Y.):Fr. 


[68] 


BULLETIN  NO.  25 


BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION 


REPORTING   EDUCATIONAL 
RESEARCH 

By 

Walter  S.  Monroe 
Director,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 

and 

Nell  Bomar  Johnston 

Assistant,  College  of  Education 


PRICE  50  CENTS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  URBANA 

1925 


L.; 


TABLE  OF  CONTEXTS 


PAGE 

Preface 5 

Chapter  I.  Introduction 7 

Chapter  II.  Criteria  for  Judging  "Educational  Writings"..    12 
Chapter  III.  Illustrations  of  Certain  Details  of  Form.  ...    32 

Chapter  IV^  Process  of  Writing  a  Report 48 

Chapter  V,  Preparation  of  Manuscript  for  Printer 56 

Appendix 61 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign 


http://www.archive.org/details/reportingeducati25monr 


PREFACE 

Treatises  on  statistical  methods,  memoirs,  articles,  and 
monographs  have  dealt  with  various  phases  of  the  technique 
to  be  employed  in  collecting  and  summarizing  data  for  the 
study  of  educational  problems.  Practically  nothing,  how- 
ever, has  been  written  on  the  reporting  of  educational  re- 
search which  is  an  important  phase  of  an  investigator's  task. 
Although  realizing  that  the  writing  of  a  report  cannot  be 
made  a  technical  procedure,  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Re- 
search publishes  this  bulletin,  which  may  be  considered  a 
by-product  of  its  activities,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  render 
assistance  to  those  engaging  in  educational  research.  Im- 
provement in  the  reporting  of  educational  research  will  in 
turn  improve  the  quality  of  the  work  done. 

Walter  S.  Monroe,  Director. 
March  4,  1925. 


REPORTING  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

The  nature  of  educational  research/  "Reflective  thinking"  is 
the  name  given  to  the  mental  process  of  discovering  rules  and  prin- 
ciples. Since  men  began  to  be  concerned  about  the  preparation  of 
children  for  the  activities  of  adult  life,  "thinkers"  have  been  discov- 
ering from  their  experience  and  observation  rules  and  principles 
relating  to  the  learning  process,  the  teaching  process,  the  curriculum, 
the  organization  of  a  school,  the  preparation  of  teachers,  and  so  forth. 
Many  of  these  "discoveries"  we  now  know  have  been  faulty  due  to 
incorrect  or  incomplete  data  or  to  failure  to  think  with  sufficient 
accuracy.  Recently  under  the  name  of  "educational  research," 
specific  attention  has  been  given  to  improving  the  technique  of  dis- 
covering knowledge  about  education.  Particular  emphasis  has  been 
placed  upon  collecting  objective  data  and  summarizing  them  by 
employing  statistical  procedures  with  the  result  that  some  persons 
appear  to  consider  these  two  phases  of  educational  research  as  consti- 
tuting the  whole  of  it.  This  is  an  unfortunate  conception.  Reflective 
thinking  is  required  in  the  discovery  of  new  procedures,  rules  and 
principles. 

Although  the  authors  of  this  bulletin  are  not  attempting  to  define 
educational  research,  there  is  one  other  point  which  should  be  noted 
here.  The  process  of  producing  knowledge  is  one  of  growth.  Dis- 
covered principles  become  data  which  may  be  used  in  making  other 
discoveries.  In  the  course  of  our  racial  experience,  particularly 
during  modern  times,  a  considerable  store  of  knowledge  relative  to 
education  has  been  accumulated.  Most  of  this  knowledge  is  recorded 
in  treatises  on  educational  theory,  educational  psychology,  philosophy 
of  education,  and  school  administration.  Unfortunately,  not  all  that 
one  finds  in  books  relating  to  education  is  true  but  much  valid 
knowledge  is  contained  which  a  "discoverer"  of  educational  pro- 
cedures, rules  and  principles  will  find  helpful  to  use. 


^For  a  more  extended  discussion  of  educational  research,  see: 
Monroe,  Walter  S.   "Service  of  educational  research  to  school  administrators, 
The  American  School  Board  Journal,  70:37-39,  122,  125,  April,  1925. 


[7] 


The  somewhat  dogmatic  observations  of  the  preceding  para- 
graphs may  be  epitomized  as  follows:  The  ultimate  purpose  of  all 
educational  research  is  the  discovery  of  procedures,  rules  and  prin- 
ciples relating  to  the  various  aspects  of  education.  Critical  reflect- 
ive thinking  is  required  in  which  discovered  facts  and  principles  may 
be  utilized,  as  well  as  original  data.  Thus  the  answering  of  any 
question  about  education  by  means  of  critical  reflective  thinking, 
based  upon  the  "best"  data  obtainable,  may  properly  be  called 
educational  research. - 

Reporting  an  important  phase  of  educational  research.    The 

report  of  an  investigation  serves  to  record  and  communicate  the  pro- 
cedure and  the  results  but  it  also  fulfills  an  important  function  in  the 
process  of  research.  In  the  act  of  writing,  if  it  is  well  done,  the 
research  worker  refines  his  thinking  and  the  detailed  record  facilitates 
the  critical  testing  of  the  work  done.  Thus  an  investigator  should 
not  consider  that  he  has  completed  his  task  until  a  complete  report 
has  been  prepared.  If  he  is  interested  in  communicating  his  work 
to  others,  the  report  must  be  well  written  in  order  to  fulfill  that 
purpose  effectively. 

The  communicatory  function  of  a  report  of  educational  re- 
search. L'sually  in  preparing  a  report  of  a  study,  a  research  worker 
should  not  confine  his  purposes  to  "telling"'  the  reader  the  answer 
which  he  has  obtained  to  the  problem  studied.^  Instead,  he  should 
try  to  guide  the  reader  to  think  about  the  problem  in  such  a  way 
that  at  the  conclusion  of  his  reading  a  dependable  answer  will  have 
been  attained.  Thus  an  effective  discussion  of  a  problem  and  its 
solution  should  guide  the  reader  (1)  to  define  the  problem  clearly 
so  that  he  will  understand  just  what  questions  are  to  be  answered 
and  in  some  cases  their  relation  to  other  questions,  (2)  to  under- 
stand the  data  introduced,  especially  to  be  aware  of  their  limitations, 
and  (3)  to  test  critically  the  hypothesis  which  is  to  be  accepted  as 


^\  research  worker  at  times  may  be  concerned  with  the  construction  of  an 
educational  test  or  the  derivation  of  some  formula  or  other  procedure.  Such  work 
may  be  called  auxiliary  research  to  indicate  the  fact  that  it  does  not  directly  produce 
new  knowledge.     However,  it  is  a  means  to  this  end. 

^There  may  be  occasions  when  an  abbreviated  report  should  be  made.  For 
example,  in  an  oral  presentation  it  is  undesirable  to  give  a  large  number  of  details 
and  one  may  appropriately  ask  his  audience  to  assume  that  the  technical  procedure 
was  satisfactory  or  at  least  to  take  his  word  for  it.  On  such  occasions,  it  is  also 
undesirable  to  present  the  details  of  one's  data. 

[8] 


the  answer  and  as  a  result  to  qualify  or  limit  It  if  the  data  indicate 
that  this  should  be  done.  In  case  other  hypotheses  are  likely  to 
occur  to  the  reader,  the  discussion  should  guide  him  to  an  under- 
standing of  the  reasons  for  their  rejection. 

Purpose  of  this  bulletin.  It  Is  the  purpose  of  this  bulletin  to 
suggest  answers  to  the  following  questions:  (1)  What  are  the  criteria 
by  which  reports  of  educational  research  should  be  judged?*  (2) 
How  should  one  proceed  in  his  writing  so  as  to  meet  these  standards.'' 
(3)   What  should  one  do  in  preparing  a  manuscript  for  the  printer.'' 

The  first  of  these  questions  forms  the  topic  of  Chapters  II  and 
III.  The  second  is  dealt  with  In  Chapter  IV,  and  Chapter  \^  gives 
suggestions  for  preparing  the  manuscript  for  the  printer. 

A  good  report  based  upon  clear  and  critical  thinking.  It  Is 
obvious  from  the  comments  on  the  nature  of  educational  research 
and  the  communicatory  function  of  a  report  that  a  necessary  pre- 
requisite is  clear  and  critical  thinking  about  the  problem  by  the 
writer.  He  cannot  be  successful  in  guiding  a  reader  to  think  clearly 
and  critically  unless  he  himself  has  first  thought  clearly  and  critlcalh'. 
Hence,  In  considering  the  procedure  of  preparing  a  report  of  educa- 
tional research,  and  In  the  formulation  of  criteria  by  which  the  com- 
pleted product  should  be  judged,  we  shall  be  concerned  largely  with 
the  process  of  clear  and  critical  thinking. 

Good  "educational  writing"  Is  not  secured  by  following  a 
mechanical  procedure.  Although  many  good  writers  are  accustomed  to 
follow  a  somewhat  fixed  procedure  in  the  production  of  manuscripts, 
writing,  including  the  prerequisite  thinking.  Is  not  accomplished  by 
going  through  a  series  of  mechanical  steps.  In  discussing  the'  pro- 
cess of  reflective  thinking  we  are  accustomed  to  recognize  four  steps 
or  phases:  (1)  Defining  the  problem;  (2)  Collecting  necessary  Infor- 
mation or  data;  (3)  Forming  hypotheses;  and  (4)  Verifying  pro- 
posed hypotheses  until  a  satisfactory  solution  Is  found.  Although 
these  steps  describe  a  general  pattern,  thinking  Is  not  In  any  sense  a 
mechanical  procedure.     It  Is  characterized  by  variation  rather  than 


*The  phrase  "report  of  educational  research"  is  used  here  to  inchide  any  edu- 
cational writing  in  which  a  problem  is  defined  and  the  reasoning  leading  to  the 
answer  presented.  It  does  not  include  inspirational  articles  or  addresses  nor  material 
which  should  be  classified  as  propaganda.  By  confining  this  bulletin  to  the  reporting 
of  educational  research  the  authors  do  not  intend  to  imply  that  the  criteria  pre- 
sented are  not  applicable  to  the  reporting  of  research  in  other  fields.  However, 
they  have  not  canvased  the  needs  outside  of  the  field  of  education. 

[9] 


by  uniformity.  For  the  same  reason  we  cannot  prescribe  a  fixed 
procedure  for  writing,  and  the  discussion  in  the  following  chapters, 
particularly  Chapter  I\',  is  therefore  necessarily  confined  to  indi- 
cating a  general  pattern  of  writing. 

Good  thinkers  not  necessarily  good  writers.  Although  clear  and 
concise  thinking  is  a  necessary  prerequisite  for  good  writing,  ability 
to  think  out  correct  answers  to  questions  does  not  necessarily  make 
one  a  good  writer.  This  observation  follows  from  the  communi- 
catory function  of  a  report  of  educational  research  which  we  pre- 
sented in  an  earlier  paragraph.  Good  writing,  that  is,  writing  which 
is  successful  in  guiding  a  reader  to  think  clearly,  comprehensively, 
and  concisely  about  the  problem  and  eventually  to  arrive  at  a 
conclusion  which  he  feels  is  dependable,  requires  more  from  the 
writer  than  ability  to  arrive  at  the  correct  answer  to  the  problem 
being  considered.  Some  excellent  "problem  solvers"  find  it  difficult 
or  impossible  to  produce  good  manuscripts  and  some  thinkers  who 
are  classed  as  mediocre,  or  at  least  not  as  brilliant,  have  become 
successful  writers. 

Good  writing  the  result  of  training.  The  ability  to  write  well 
cannot  be  acquired  oflthand,  nor  can  any  treatise  such  as  this  bulletin 
eliminate  the  necessity  for  long  and  perhaps  laborious  training.  Most 
of  us  need  extended  practice  in  putting  our  ideas  into  words  and 
in  sorting  and  organizing  our  phrases,  sentences  and  paragraphs 
so  that  our  writing  may  be  effective  as  an  instrument  of  communi- 
cation. As  is  the  case  in  many  lines  of  human  endeavor,  proficiency, 
particularly  high  proficiency,  is  attained  only  as  a  result  of  a  long 
period  of  study  and  training.  Some  persons  possess  greater  talent 
for  writing  than  others,  but  an\one  of  average  ability  who  has  the 
patience  to  undergo  the  necessary  training  and  practice  can  become 
reasonably  proficient  in  the  craft  of  writing. 

Audience  to  whom  this  bulletin  is  addressed.  This  bulletin  is 
addressed  to  all  who  are  engaged  or  who  desire  to  engage  in  educa- 
tional research.  As  we  have  pointed  out,  the  reporting  of  the  results 
of  an  investigation  should  be  considered  an  integral  and  necessary 
phase  of  one's  work.  Superintendents,  principals  and  teachers  who 
desire  to  report  concerning  their  work,  either  at  meetings  of  teachers 
or  in  the  educational  press,  should  find  many  helpful  suggestions  in 
the   following   pages.     The   authors,   however,    have   particularly   in 


[  10  ] 


mind   students    in   teacher-training   institutions,    especially    graduate 
students  who  are  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  theses. 

The  source  of  the  following  suggestions  and  directions.  The 
following  discussion  is  necessarih'  subjective  in  that  it  represents  the 
judgment  of  the  authors.  However,  it  is  the  outgrowth  of  several 
years  of  experience  in  the  production  and  publication  of  reports  of 
educational  research  and  has  been  formulated  after  an  extended 
consideration  of  the  questions  stated  in  an  earlier  paragraph.  Fur- 
thermore, books  and  manuals  dealing  with  questions  relative  to  ef- 
fective writing  have  been  consulted. 


[11] 


CHAPTER  II 

CRITERIA  FOR  JUDGING  "EDUCATIONAL  WRITINGS" 

The  criteria  or  standards  to  be  used  in  judging  a  report  of  edu- 
cational research  have  been  grouped  under  three  heads: 

A.  General  structure. 

B.  Development,  evaluation,  and  organization  of  ideas. 

C.  Details  of  structure  and  form. 

In  Section  I  of  this  chapter  the  criteria  have  been  expressed  in  terms 
of  questions  which  are  to  be  answered  in  passing  judgment  upon  a 
report.  In  Section  II  the  criteria  are  explained  and  in  some  cases 
illustrated.  Additional  illustrations  of  the  details  of  structure  and 
form  are  given  in  Chapter  III. 

The  reader  will  note  that  some  of  the  criteria  are  not  inde- 
pendent. In  a  few  cases  one  criterion  implies  others,  and  in  some 
there  is  a  rather  obvious  overlapping  but  it  is  thought  that  this 
feature  is  not  altogether  undesirable. 

Relative  importance  of  criteria.  Of  the  several  criteria  listed, 
those  grouped  under  "development,  evaluation,  and  organization  of 
ideas"  are  the  most  important.  Although  good  structure  and  form 
are  highly  desirable  and  in  some  respects  necessary,  a  report  cannot 
be  classed  as  "good"  unless  the  right  ideas  have  been  developed  and 
an  effective  organization  secured. 

Application  of  the  criteria.  Preliminary  to  an  attempt  to  apply 
these  criteria  a  writer  should  seek  a  clear  understanding  of  them  by 
reading  the  second  section  of  this  chapter.  Those  listed  under  "de- 
velopment, evaluation,  and  organization  of  ideas"  are  somewhat  in- 
tangible and  are  probably  the  most  difficult  to  apply  effectively; 
but  as  stated  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  they  are  the  most  important 
and  therefore  should  be  given  especial  attention. 

The  criteria  are  intended  to  serve  as  guides  in  actual  writing  and 
to  provide  bases  for  criticising  one's  work  when  revising  a  manu- 
script. As  preliminary  training  it  will  be  helpful  to  apply  the  criteria 
in  judging  reports  of  research  published  in  educational  periodicals 
and  as  bulletins  and  monographs.  In  doing  this  one  should  not 
merely  answer  the  questions  categorically  but  cite  in  addition  definite 
evidence  in  support  of  the  answers  given.  In  the  beginning  it  will 
be  helpful  to  write  out  a  statement  of  the  evidence. 

[12] 


I.    SUMMARY  OF  CRITERIA 

A.  General  Structure. 

1.  Major  divisions  and  their  sequence. 

a.  Are  the  following  divisions  reasonably  explicit: 
definition  of  problem,  source  of  data,  plan  of  treatment, 
the  discussion  of  each  question  to  be  answered,  and  the 
conclusion: 

b.  Is  the  order  of  the  divisions  named  above  an  effect- 
ive one  for  the  particular  report  under  discussion: 

2.  Introduction. 

a.  Is  the  problem  introduced  in  such  a  way  that  a  com- 
petent reader  will  appreciate  and  understand  the  purpose 
of  the  report? 

b.  Has  superfluous  material  been  eliminated  from  the 
introduction  ? 

3.  Definition  of  problem. 

a.  Is  the  reader  given  a  precise  statement  of  the  prob- 
lem or  problems  which  are  to  be  considered? 

b.  In  case  the  problem  is  related  to  other  problems, 
are  the  relations  made  clear  to  the  reader: 

4.  Conclusion  and  summary. 

a.  Is  the  reader  given  in  convenient  form  an  explicit 
answer  to  each  question  included  in  the  "definition  of  the 
problem": 

b.  In  case  the  discussion  leading  to  the  answer  to  a 
question  or  to  a  group  of  related  questions  is  lengthy,  is 
the  reader  given  a  brief  summary: 

B.  Development,  evaluation,  and  organization  of  ideas. 

5.  Trend  of  thought. 

a.  As  the  reader  "traces"  the  writer's  thinking,  will  he 
be  led  from  a  clearly  defined  problem  to  a  critical  and 
scholarly  answer  by  a  route  which  is  satisfying  to  him: 

b.  Is  an  encyclopaedic  enumeration  of  ideas  or  facts 
avoided .' 

c.  Are  there  sufficiently  explicit  connections  between 
chapters  or  other  major  divisions? 

d.  Have  cross  references  been  made  where  they 
would  be  helpful  to  the  reader? 

[13] 


6.  Development  of  ideas. 

a.  Has  the  writer  avoided  leaving  "gaps"  in  his  "trend 
of  thought"  for  the  reader  to  fill  in? 

b.  Have  the  important  ideas  been  "developed"  so  that 
the  average  reader  will  fully  comprehend  themr 

c.  Is  the  discussion  connected  with  fundamental  con- 
cepts and  principles;  that  is,  does  it  avoid  implications  of 
superficiality? 

d.  Has  the  writer  developed  his  ideas  so  completeh' 
that  no  points  have  been  overlooked  which  might  leave  the 
reader  with  unanswered  questions? 

7.  Evaluation  of  ideas. 

a.  Have  all  irrelevant  ideas  been  eliminated? 

b.  Have  the  ideas  been  grouped  properly  with  refer- 
ence to  their  relative  importance? 

c.  Is  it  easy  for  the  reader  to  pick  out  the  important 
points  in  the  discussion? 

8.  Accuracy  of  interpretation. 

a.  Have  the  data  been  accurately  interpreted? 

b.  Do  the  statements  agree  with  generally  accepted 
opinion  and  "common  sense"?  If  not,  is  attention  called 
to  such  disagreements? 

c.  Are  the  v^Titer's   statements   justified  by   his   data? 

9.  Precision  of  statement. 

a.  Are  the  statements  made  so  that  they  will  convey 
to  the  reader  exactly  the  meaning  intended? 

b.  Are  all  statements  worded  so  that  ambiguity  or 
indefiniteness  is  avoided? 

c.  Have  the  statements  been  expressed  so  that  a  com- 
petent reader  will  not  be  in  doubt  regarding  the  exact  ideas 
in  the  mind  of  the  writer? 

C.  Details  of  structure  and  for:m. 
10.  Diction. 

a.  Have  appropriate  words  and  phrases  been  used  at 
all  times? 

b.  Have  particular  words  and  phrases  been  used  with 
a  consistent  meaning? 

c.  Have  words  and  phrases  to  which  common  practice 
has  assigned  technical  meanings  been  used  correctly? 

[U] 


d.  Has  attention  been  called  explicitly  to  words  and 
phrases  with  an  unusual  or  restricted  meaning: 

e.  Has  the  "over-working"  of  certain  words  been 
avoided? 

11.  Clearness. 

a.  Is  the  vocabulary  suitable  for  the  intended  audi- 
ence r 

b.  Are  the  ideas  expressed  in  simple  yet  definite  lan- 
guage? 

12.  Rhetoric,  grammar,  spelling,  and  punctuation. 

a.  Have  the  rhetorical  rules  relative  to  unity,  coher- 
ence, and  emphasis  in  sentence  and  paragraph  construction 
been  properly  observed.' 

b.  Have  rules  of  grammar  been  observed? 

c.  Are  all  words  correctly  spelled? 

d.  Has  consistency  in  the  plan  of  punctuation  been 
observed? 

13.  Form  of  tables  and  graphs. 

a.  Are  the  captions  of  tables  at  the  top  and  those  of 
graphs  at  the  bottom? 

b.  Are  the  captions,  box  headings,  and  other  labels 
sufficiently  complete  so  that  a  competent  reader  will  be  able 
to  understand  the  table  or  graph  without  referring  to  the 
accompanying  text? 

14.  Explanation  and  interpretation  of  tables  and  graphs. 

a.  Has  the  enumeration  of  the  facts  summarized  in  a 
table  or  diagram  been  minimized  in  the  accompanying  text? 

b.  Is  the  accompanying  text  sufficiently  complete  so 
that  it  is  unnecessary  for  the  reader  to  refer  to  the  table 
or  diagram  in  order  to  follow  the  trend  of  thought? 

c.  Are  references  to  tables  and  graphs  sufficiently  ex- 
plicit so  that  the  reader  will  have  no  difficulty  in  locating 
the  correct  table  or  graph? 

d.  In  interpreting  a  table  or  graph,  is  the  introduction 
of  irrelevant  facts  or  comments  avoided,  so  that  the  trend 
of  thought  IS  not  broken? 

15.  References  to  sources  of  information. 

a.  Are  bibliographical  references  given  for  statements 
of  facts  taken  from  the  works  of  other  persons? 

[15] 


16.  Bibliographical  form. 

a.  Are  all  references  both  in  footnotes  and  in  biblio- 
graphies given  in  an  approved  bibliographical  form: 

17.  Chapter  titles,  table  of  contents,  preface,  title  page,  order  of 

paging,  spacing,  kind  of  paper,  and  so  forth. 

a.  Have  conventional  rules  with  reference  to  chapter 
titles,  table  of  contents,  and  so  forth  been  observed? 

18.  Footnotes. 

a.  Have  footnotes  been  used  to  give  needed  explana- 
tions or  other  comments  which  will  make  more  certain 
a  correct  and  complete  understanding  by  the  reader: 

b.  Has  material  which  would  tend  to  break  the  trend 
of  thought  but  which  is  desirable  to  include  been  placed 
in  a  footnote  or  in  an  appendix? 

19.  Miscellaneous. 

a.  Have  conventional  rules  with  reference  to  abbrevi- 
ations, division  of  words,  spelling  out  numbers,  and  so  forth 
been  complied  with? 

II.     DISCUSSION  OF  CRITERIA 

1.  Major  divisions  and  their  sequence.  No  general  rule  can  be 
stated  with  reference  to  dividing  a  report  into  chapters  or  other 
sections.  Usually  there  is  an  introductory  section  or  chapter  in  which 
the  problem  and  its  discussion  are  introduced  to  the  reader.  Either 
as  a  part  of  the  "introduction"  or  as  divisions  coordinate  with  it, 
there  should  be  a  "definition  of  a  problem"  and  a  statement  of  the 
"sources  of  data"  and  "plan  of  treatment."  Sometimes  a  general 
statement  is  made  in  regard  to  the  "limitations  of  the  data." 

The  plan  of  the  "discussion  of  the  problem"  will  be  determined 
largely  by  the  way  in  which  the  problem  is  defined.  Usually  there 
should  be  a  distinct  division  for  each  major  subordinate  problem  or 
question.  For  each  problem  or  question  there  should  be  an  explicit 
conclusion.  Sometimes  these  may  be  placed  at  the  end  of  the  re- 
spective chapters  or  sections,  but  in  lengthy  reports  it  is  desirable 
to  set  apart  a  final  chapter  for  this  purpose.  In  case  the  discussion 
of  a  problem  is  lengthy  there  should  be  a  summary  of  the  argument. 
A  few  writers  have  placed  a  summary  of  the  conclusions  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  report. 

[161 


In  short  manuscripts  (twenty-five  pages  or  less)  it  is  not  cus- 
tomary to  label  the  sections  except  by  a  paragraph  or  center  heading, 
but  a  critical  reader  should  always  be  able  to  identify  them  without 
difficulty.  When  a  manuscript  includes  as  many  as  fifty  typewritten 
pages  double-spaced,  it  is  customary  to  form  chapters  or  sections 
and  to  label  each  with  an  appropriate  title.  However,  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  state  a  definite  rule  in  regard  to  the  mechanical  form  of  the 
divisions.     In  fact  the  mechanical  form  is  not  highly  important. 

When  there  is  an  explicit  division  into  chapters  or  sections  there 
should  be  a  "table  of  contents."  It  is  also  customary  to  list  the 
tables  and  diagrams  by  quoting  their  numbers  and  captions.  These 
should  follow  the  "table  of  contents"  on  separate  pages. 

2.  Introduction.  The  purpose  of  the  "introduction"  is  to  acquaint 
the  reader  with  the  problem  under  consideration  so  that  he  will  both 
understand  and  appreciate  the  purpose  of  the  following  discussion. 
In  introducing  a  problem  the  writer  may  tell  how  It  arose  and  dis- 
cuss briefly  Its  Importance,  but  if  it  Is  already  familiar  and  of  immedi- 
ate Interest  to  the  audience  addressed  this  phase  of  the  introduction 
should  be  omitted  or  at  least  made  very  brief.  The  Introduction 
should  contain  such  explanatory  statements  as  are  judged  necessary 
to  put  the  reader  In  the  proper  frame  of  mind  for  the  understanding 
of  the  material  that  follows.  In  the  Introduction  to  this  bulletin  we 
have  called  attention  to  the  "nature  of  educational  research,"  "report- 
ing an  important  phase  of  educational  research,"  and  so  forth. 

The  introduction  should  never  be  longer  than  necessary,  as  a 
long  Introduction  tends  to  bore  most  readers.  It  Is,  however,  not 
possible  to  specify  even  the  portion  of  a  report  which  may  properly 
be  devoted  to  an  "Introduction."  In  case  the  section  so  labeled  in- 
cludes, in  addition  to  a  statement  of  the  writer's  purpose,  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  sources  of  data  and  of  the  plan  of  treatment  and  some 
comment  upon  the  limitations  of  the  data,  it  may  extend  over  sev- 
eral pages.  On  the  other  hand  it  may  be  relatively  short.  A  good 
rule  to  bear  in  mind  Is  that  as  soon  as  the  reader  understands  the 
problem,  he  probably  will  be  interested  In  what  the  writer  has  to 
say  about  It  and  will  be  inclined  to  resent  an   unnecessary   delay. 

3.  Definition  of  problem.  An  effective  way  to  define  a  problem 
Is  to  state  in  precise  terms  the  specific  questions  to  be  answered.  If 
it  is  thought  desirable,  explanation  and  comment  may  be  added. 
If  there  are  closely  related  questions  which  are  not  to  be  considered. 
It  is  sometimes  helpful  to  point  these  out. 

[17] 


4.  Conclusion  and  summary.  A  reader  should  always  be  able  I 
to  find  at  the  end  of  the  manuscript  or  at  the  end  of  the  major  divi-  ~ 
sions  a  brief  statement  of  the  answers  to  the  questions  given  in  the 
definition  of  the  problem.  If  answers  are  to  be  stated  for  a  large 
number  of  questions,  they  should  be  organized  by  grouping  and  sub- 
ordination so  that  the  reader  will  not  be  bewildered  by  an  encyclo- 
paedic enumeration  of  statements.  Furthermore,  the  conclusion 
should  be  confined  to  a  statement  of  the  answers  to  the  questions 
being  considered.  It  frequently  happens  that  data  presented  in  con- 
nection with  one  problem  may  relate  also  to  other  problems.  If 
deemed  desirable,  a  writer  may  use  a  footnote  to  call  attention  to  the 
implications  of  the  data  with  reference  to  these  other  problems  but 
such  comments  should  not  be  included  in  the  body  of  the  discussion 
nor  mentioned  in  the  conclusion. 

When  the  discussion  of  a  particular  question  is  lengthy,  the 
arguments  should  be  summarized  briefly.  When  a  number  of  re- 
lated questions  have  been  considered,  it  is  desirable  to  add  a  sum- 
mary showing  the  relation  which  exists  between  the  conclusions 
reached  for  the  separate  questions. 

5.  Trend  of  thought.  The  phrase  "trend  of  thought"  is  used  as  a 
name  for  a  somewhat  subtle  and  indefinite  concept.  It  is,  however, 
implied  in  a  writer's  purpose  with  reference  to  his  readers.  The 
sentences  and  paragraphs  which  the  writer  sets  down  are  for  the 
purpose  of  rendering  maximum  guidance  and  assistance  to  a  reader 
in  thinking  from  the  problem  defined  to  its  solution.  The  writer 
has  thought  through  the  problem  and  he  is  writing  for  the  purpose 
of  guiding  the  reader  also  in  thinking  out  the  same  answer.  This 
does  not  mean  that  the  writer  should  describe  his  actual  mental 
processes  in  thinking  out  his  solution.  Frequently  his  thinking  in- 
volves much  "scrapped  thought,"  and  he  should  endeavor  to  guide 
the  reader  so  that  such  waste  will  be  eliminated.  Therefore,  the 
writer  should  rearrange  his  thinking  about  the  question  so  that  the 
reader's  thinking  will  be  as  efficient  as  possible. 

The  organization  of  one's  writing  should  be  such  that  the  reader 
will  progress  through  the  several  phases  or  steps  of  reflective  think- 
ing; defining  the  problem,  gathering  data  or  information,  forming 
hypotheses  and  verifying  them.  The  reader  should  at  all  times  have 
a  well-defined  problem  In  mind  which  he  is  trying  to  answer  by 
means  of  his  reading.     Ideas  should  be  presented  to  him  at  the  time 

[18] 


he  needs  them.  When  he  has  been  guided  to  the  solution  which  the 
writer  wishes  him  to  reach,  he  should  be  led  to  examine  it  critically. 

Many  qualities  enter  into  a  trend  of  thought.  There  must  first 
be  a  good  general  organization,  then  the  rules  of  unity  and  coherence 
must  be  observed  in  each  paragraph  and  sentence.  All  irrelevant 
material  must  be  excluded.  Good  writing  is  not  a  series  of  isolated 
or  unconnected  statements  even  though  each  one  itself  may  express 
an  important  idea  or  principle. 

6.  Development  of  ideas.  Words  and  phrases  are  used  as  sym- 
bols for  ideas.  Such  phrases  as  "supervised  study,"  "divided  period," 
"individual  instruction,"  "motivation,"  "curriculum,"  and  "intelli- 
gence" occur  frequently  in  educational  writings  and  are  intended  to 
stimulate  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  certain  ideas.  One  person's  con- 
cept of  "supervised  study,"  for  example,  is  likely  to  differ  from  an- 
other's in  wealth  of  associations  and  in  richness  of  meaning,  even 
when  there  is  no  actual  disagreement.  Because  a  writer  has  spent 
some  time  in  formulating,  enriching  and  organizing  his  concepts,  he 
is  very  likely  to  attach  to  the  symbols  used  a  richness  of  association 
and  meaning  much  greater  than  that  stimulated  in  the  mind  of  his 
reader,  unless  he  "develops"  hie  concepts  by  explicit  references  to 
associated  ideas  and  by  appropriate  illustrations.  Hence,  if  a 
writer  is  to  be  efficient  in  fulfilling  his  function  with  reference  to  the 
reader  he  must,  at  least  in  the  case  of  an  important  idea,  keep  it  with 
its  associated  ideas  within  the  focus  of  the  reader's  attention  until 
it  has  been  fully  comprehended. 

Many  writers  tend  to  abbreviate.  Important  ideas  are  men- 
tioned incidentally  or  merely  alluded  to,  and  in  some  cases,  omitted 
altogether.  It  thus  becomes  necessary  for  the  critical  reader  to  fill 
in  the  "gaps"  in  the  thinking  if  he  is  to  avoid  a  feeling  of  incom- 
pleteness. In  such  a  case  the  writer  has  failed  to  fulfill  his  function 
in  guiding  his  reader  to  thinking  fully  and  clearly  about  the  prob- 
lem under  consideration. 

The  writer  who  is  familiar  with  the  ideas  relating  to  the  prob- 
lem which  he  has  studied  may  tend  to  under-rate  the  necessity  of 
developing  these  ideas  in  writing.  However,  undesirable  abbrevia- 
tion frequently  is  due  to  the  failure  on  the  part  of  the  writer  to  think 
sufficiently  clearly  and  comprehensively  about  his  problem.  This 
characteristic  usually  applies  to  writing  which  we  call  superficial. 
When  reading  such  a  report  a  thoughtful  person  is  left  with  many 

[19] 


unanswered  questions  and  with  a  feeling  of  insecurity  about  the 
conclusion  because  its  basis  is  not  clear  or  is  perhaps  unknown  to 
him. 

7.  Evaluation  of  ideas.  In  thinking  about  a  problem^  many 
ideas  may  come  into  the  mind  of  the  writer.  Some  are  pertinent  to 
the  problem;  others  are  not.  If  extraneous  ideas  are  introduced  into 
the  discussion,  the  reader's  attention  is  likely  to  be  distracted  from 
the  main  issue.  Hence,  the  good  writer  carefully  evaluates  his  ideas 
and  includes  only  those  which  in  his  judgment  will  be  helpful  to  the 
reader  in  connection  with  the  particular  problem  being  considered. 
The  good  writer  furthermore  evaluates  those  ideas  which  he  judges 
pertinent  to  his  problem  and  assigns  those  of  minor  importance  to 
subordinate  positions. 

It  is  not  sufficient  to  reject  only  those  ideas  which  are  erroneous 
or  unimportant  in  general.  An  idea  may  be  very  useful  in  connec- 
tion with  one  problem  but  have  little  or  no  value  in  the  treatment 
of  another.  Good  writing  is  not  merely  recording  good  ideas.  It 
is  rather  the  recording  of  ideas  which  are  good  for  a  particular  pur- 
pose. One  of  the  difficult  tasks  of  a  writer  is  to  stick  to  his  text. 
His  prejudices  in  favor  of  certain  Ideas  constantly  tempt  him  to  intro- 
duce topics  which  have  little  or  no  connection  with  the  problem. 

Sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  try  out  an  idea  or  group  of  ideas  in 
order  to  determine  their  appropriateness  for  the  purpose  at  hand. 
Most  good  writing  is  a  result  of  many  revisions.  Sentences  or  even 
whole  paragraphs  which  have  been  written  at  the  expense  of  much 
effort  are  eliminated  and  others  added.  Sometimes  a  slight  modifi- 
cation of  an  idea  or  the  way  in  which  it  is  presented  will  greatly  in- 
crease its  effectiveness. 

The  proper  subordination  of  ideas  is  also  important.  As  has 
been  pointed  out,  the  writer  should  seek  to  build  up  a  "trend  of 
thought."  The  effectiveness  of  the  ideas  included  in  this  "trend  of 
thought"  depends  upon  the  organization  in  somewhat  the  same  way 
that  the  convenience  of  a  house  depends  upon  the  arrangement  of 
the  several  rooms.  There  should  be  a  few  principal  ideas  and  all 
others  should  be  subordinated  to  these.  The  reader  will  then  be 
given  a  few  major  points  which  will  serve  as  organizing  centers  for 
the  related  ideas. 


'This  includes  any  reading  on  the  problem  which  the  writer  may  do. 

[20] 


8.  Accuracy  of  interpretation.  The  writer  is  responsible  for 
knowing  his  data.  If  they  are  not  representative  or  if  they  are  sub- 
ject to  errors  or  other  Hmitations  he  must  quahfy  his  statements  ac- 
cordingly. He  should  make  certain  that  his  data  justify  a  statement 
before  he  makes  it.  He  should  also  check  it  against  generally  accepted 
beliefs  and  common  sense.  Even  when  he  is  satisfied  in  regard  to 
its  accuracy,  he,  in  many  cases,  should  call  the  reader's  attention  to 
any  disagreement  with  beliefs  or  statements  by  other  writers  and 
should  indicate  the  basis  of  his  judgment.  In  the  absence  of  such 
explanation  the  critical  reader  may  judge  the  statement  to  be  inac- 
curate and  conclude  that  the  writer  has  been  careless  in  his  thinking. 

9.  Precision  of  statement.  A  precise  statement  conveys  exactly 
the  meaning  intended  by  the  writer.  When  read  carefully  by  a  com- 
petent person  there  is  no  uncertainty  in  his  mind.  He  is  not  left  in 
doubt  on  any  point.  He  is  not  confused.  He  has  no  questions  to  ask 
about  what  the  writer  intended  to  say.  It  is  obvious  to  him  that 
the  writer  has  very  clear,  definite  and  precise  ideas  to  express.  A 
precise  statement  usually  includes  limitations  and  restrictions  which 
should  be  kept  in  mind.  The  words  used  have  been  selected  with  a 
view  to  the  precise  shades  of  meaning  which  they  convey. 

Lack  of  precision  may  be  due  to  (1)  poor  choice  of  words,  (2) 
faulty  usage  of  technical  terms,  and  (3)  omission  of  restrictive  words 
and  phrases. 

The  following  brief  quotations  from  "educational  writings"  have 
been  carefully  selected  to  illustrate  the  lack  of  precision  of  state- 
ment. However,  the  reader  should  realize  that  these  excerpts  may 
lose  much  of  their  effectiveness  as  illustrations  by  being  abstracted 
from  the  setting  given  them  by  their  authors.  The  first  quotation 
illustrates  the  effect  of  the  choice  of  words  upon  the  precision  of 
statement: 

In  selecting  drill  material  in  reading,  methods  can  be  determined  by  a  wise 
manipulation  of  reading  tests.^ 

The  words,  "method,"  "wise,"  and  "manipulation"  are  poor 
words  to  use  in  this  sentence.  The  following  sentence  expresses 
more  clearly  and  precisely  what  the  author  appears  to  have  had  in 
mind: 

The  use  of  reading  tests  designed  to  reveal  the  specific  deficiencies  of  children 
is  helpful  in  selecting  drill  material  in  reading. 


^Paulu,    E.    M.     Diagnostic    Testing    and    Remedial    Teaching.    New    York: 
D.  C.  Heath  and  Company,  1924,  p.  22. 

[21] 


A  second  illustration  is: 

To  overcome  In  a  single  grade  the  heterogeneous  grouping  of  children  from 
the  standpoint  of  mentality,  various  administrative  devices  have  been  employed 
with  varied  degrees  of  success.  Two  of  these  devices,  teacher's  estimates  of  pupil's 
work,  and  mentality  tests  stand  out  prominently.^ 

In  this  statement  one  is  confused  because  "teacher's  estimates 
of  pupil's  work,"  and  "mentality  tests"  are  called  administrative 
devices  which  overcome  the  heterogeneous  grouping  of  children.  They 
are  not  devices  of  this  sort.  They  are  rather  instruments  for  secur- 
ing information,  which  in  turn  may  be  used  as  a  basis  for  grouping 
the  children  belonging  to  a  single  grade. 

A  considerable  technical  vocabulary  has  gradually  been  built 
up  in  the  field  of  education.  Many  words  which  were  already  in 
use  have  been  assigned  very  definite  meanings.  Failure  to  use  such 
words  in  accordance  with  the  technical  meanings  assigned  to  them 
greatly  reduces  the  effectiveness  of  one's  writing.  The  word  "stand- 
ard" is  very  frequently  used  incorrectly.     For  example: 

In  measuring  certain  educational  products  there  too  must  be  a  standard  cor- 
responding to  the  many  commercial  standards.  It  is  not  for  us  here  to  question 
how  educational  standards  are  obtained.* 

It  appears  from  what  follows  that  in  the  second  sentence  this 
writer  is  using  "standard"  in  the  sense  of  "norm."  In  the  first 
sentence  it  obviously  has  the  meaning  of  "standard  unit"  such  as  a 
standard  yard,  or  a  standard  pound.  Hence,  the  meaning  of  the 
quotation  is  not  clear,  and  the  reader  is  likely  to  be  confused  or 
misled.     It  is  probable  that  the  writer  failed  to  think  clearly. 

The  quotation  below  illustrates  the  securing  of  precision  through 

the  use  of  restrictive  terms: 

In  this  chapter  we  shall  not  rehearse  the  facts  concerning  the  boys  and  girls 
of  fourteen  or  fifteen  which  are  available  In  books  on  the  psychology  of  childhood 
and  adolescence,  but  shall  report  three  studies  which  add  new  information  con- 
cerning the  select  group  of  boys  and  girls  who  enter  American  high  schools.^ 

The  words  printed  in  italics  add  greatly  to  the  precision  of  this 

statement.     Their  value  becomes   apparent  when   the   statement  is 

rewritten  as  follows: 

In  this  chapter  we  shall  not  rehearse  the  facts  concerning-  boys  and  girls 
which  are  available  in  books  on  psychology,  but  shall  report  three  studies  which 
add  new  Informatbn. 


'Paulu,  E.  AI.  Diagnostic  Testing  and  Remedial  Teaching.  New  York: 
D.  C.  Heath  and  Companv.  1924.  p.  58. 

*Ibid.,  p.  28-29. 

^Thorxdyke,  E.  L.  The  Psychology  of  Algebra.  New  York:  The  Macmillan 
Company,  1923,  p.  1.    The  italics  have  been  inserted  by  the  authors  of  this  bulletin. 

[22] 


The  following  is  an  illustration  of  a  paragraph  which  adds  to 
the  precision  of  the  chapter  in  which  it  appears: 

Care  must  be  taken,  however,  not  to  leave  the  impression  that  the  increased 
expenditure  per  child  of  school  age  means  merely  an  increased  cost  of  an  identical 
service.  During  this  period  the  public  school  system  of  the  state  has  not  only 
attracted  and  held  in  school  a  larger  part  of  the  children  of  school  age,  but  it  has 
expanded  its  '"program"  by  establishing  a  more  varied  and  elaborate  curriculum,  and 
additional  service  such  as  transportation  of  children,  health  service,  kindergartens, 
vocational  and  continuation  schools." 

This  paragraph  serves  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  reader  to 
the  avoidance  of  a  conclusion  which  otherwise  might  be  inferred  from 
the  figures  just  cited.  It  is  also  an  illustration  of  precise  writing. 
The  words  have  been  chosen  carefully  in  order  to  convey  exactly 
the  meaning  intended.  Evidently  the  writer  thought  that  the  word 
"program"  might  not  convey  a  sufficiently  definite  meaning  and  for 
this  reason  he  has  defined  it. 

It  is  obvious  that  precision  in  thinking  is  a  prerequisite  for  pre- 
cision in  expression.  It  would  be  only  accidental  if  one  wrote  pre- 
cise sentences  and  paragraphs  when  he  did  not  have  precise  ideas 
to  express.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  not  generally  realized  that  faulty 
usage  of  technical  terms,  omission  of  restrictive  expressions,  and 
even  a  poor  choice  of  words  and  phrases  constitute  evidence  that  the 
writer  has  failed  to  think  clearly  and  precisely.  There  may  be  ex- 
ceptions but  in  general  this  may  be  accepted  as  an  empirical  rule. 

10.  Diction.  Although  "general  structure,"  "trend  of  thought," 
"development  of  ideas,"  and  so  forth  are  potent  in  determining  the 
quality  of  a  report,  a  writer  cannot  communicate  his  ideas  effectively 
unless  he  uses  appropriate  words  and  phrases.  We  have  already 
referred  to  the  development  of  a  technical  vocabulary  in  the  field  of 
education.  Some  words  that  are  used  with  only  a  general  meaning  in 
conversation  and  in  non-technical  fields  have  been  assigned  precise 
meanings  in  the  field  of  education.  Examples  of  such  words  are; 
standards  (in  educational  measurements),  intelligence,  objectives, 
content,  correlation,  project,  diagnosis,  supervision  and  motivation. 
Other  words  and  phrases  have  been  coined  to  represent  ideas;  junior 
high  school,  project  method,  achievement  test,  power  test,  supervised 
study,  divided  period,  Dalton  plan,  and  so  forth. 

We  have  Illustrated  (pages  21-22)  how  the  use  of  technical  terms 
affects   precision  of  statements.    A  writer's   skill  in  choosing  verbs. 


"Strayer,  George  D.  and  Haig,  Robert  XI.     Financing  of  Education  in   the 
State  of  New  York.    New  York:  The  Macmillan  Company,  1922,  p.  138. 

[23] 


adjectives  and  adverbs  also  is  very  potent  In  determining  this  qual- 
ity of  his  writing.  Fine  shades  of  meaning  cannot  be  expressed  un- 
less appropriate  words  are  used. 

As  a  rule  a  writer  should  use  a  word  or  a  phrase  only  as  a  sym- 
bol for  the  meaning  usually  given  to  it.  If  he  finds  it  necessary  or 
desirable  to  modify  this  meaning,  he  should  call  the  reader's  atten- 
tion to  the  restricted  or  changed  meaning.  Usually  such  explanatory 
comments  should  be  given  in  a  footnote  and  the  reader  may  be  re- 
minded of  the  modified  meaning  by  enclosing  the  word  or  phrase 
in  quotation  marks  whenever  it  appears. 

It  is  highly  important  that  a  writer  be  consistent  in  his  use  of 
terms.  Any  inconsistency  will  be  annoying  to  the  reader  and  may 
make  it  impossible  for  him  to  understand  what  has  been  written. 
Furthermore,  lack  of  consistency  in  the  use  of  terms  and  phrases 
is  usually  evidence  of  careless  or  superficial  thinking  about  the  prob- 
lem being  discussed. 

Frequent  recurrence  of  a  word  or  phrase  should  be  avoided. 
No  term  should  be  over-worked.  No  definite  rule  can  be  stated,  but 
in  general  a  writer  should  endeavor  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  the 
same  word  or  phrase  in  a  short  sentence  or  In  successive  short 
sentences.'^  This  rule  Is  especially  important  in  the  case  of  an  em- 
phatic noun  or  verb. 

11.  Clearness.  The  function  of  a  report  Is  to  stimulate  In  the 
mind  of  a  reader  certain  definite  Ideas.  If  these  ideas  are  not  im- 
pressed upon  him,  If  he  misinterprets  what  is  said  or  is  left  in  doubt, 
the  writer  has  failed  either  In  his  own  thinking  or  in  his  medium  of 
expression.  This  vital  principle  of  clearness  is  the  starting  point  for 
any  sound  treatment  of  a  subject.  Every  good  style  Is  essentially  a 
clear  style.  Good  writers  vary  In  their  forms  of  expression.  They 
may  have,  and  usually  do  have,  certain  peculiarities,  but  they  have  in 
common  the  one  aim  of  presenting  their  material  in  such  a  way  that 
a  reader  is  not  troubled  by  the  slightest  obscurity  or  Irrelevance. 

Clearness  in  relation  to  force  and  beauty.  Rhetoricians,  in  gen- 
eral, agree  upon  three  fundamental  laws  of  composition.  Clearness, 
force,  and  beauty  are  considered  essential  to  really  good  writing.  Both 
force  and  beauty  are  difficult  of  attainment  because  of  their  elusive- 


'This    general   rule   does    not   apply    to    the   more   common    prepositions,    con- 
junctions, etc. 

[24] 


ness  and  are  largely  the  result  of  experience  in  writing.^  Force 
is  dependent  upon  the  selection  and  arrangement  of  the  words 
and  phrases  used  and  upon  the  proportional  development  of 
the  ideas  introduced  into  the  discussion.  Beauty  is  related  to  the 
structural  organization,  to  the  choice  of  words,  and  to  the  method 
of  expression.  Of  these  three  attributes,  clearness,  force  and  beauty, 
it  is  obvious  that  for  the  type  of  "educational  writing''  discussed 
in  this  bulletin,  clearness  is  the  one  requiring  most  emphasis.  Per- 
sistent effort  and  practice  should  enable  one  to  write  clearly  and 
forcefully,  provided  he  is  able  to  think  clearly.  Beauty  in  the  sense 
of  artistic  expression  may  never  be  attained,  but  if  constant  attention 
is  given  to  the  details  of  structure,  if  the  vocabulary  is  enriched,  and 
if  the  form  of  expression  is  varied,  a  style,  at  least,  will  be  developed 
which  is  neither  laborious  nor  irritating  to  a  sensitive  reader. 

Clearness  in  relation  to  interest.  Often  it  is  necessary,  in  addi- 
tion to  making  the  exposition  clear,  to  make  it  interesting.  Initial 
interest  is  secured  by  the  way  in  which  the  problem  is  introduced. 
Holding  the  reader's  attention  is  dependent  upon  the  manner  in 
which  the  discussion  of  the  problem  Is  handled.  Irrelevant  statements 
tend  to  hinder  the  reader  in  getting  the  meaning.  The  presence  of 
too  many  ideas  is  likely  to  be  distracting  and  confusing.  \  erbosity 
on  the  part  of  the  writer  makes  the  reading  laborious.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  the  statements  are  too  bare,  if  the  writer  assumes  too  great 
knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  reader,  the  Ideas  will  not  be  fully 
grasped  nor  appreciated.  Unfamiliar  material  or  abstract  state- 
ments should  be  clarified  by  the  use  of  Illustrations  or  examples. 
Statistical  data  often  are  confusing  unless  skillfully  presented  in 
tables  or  diagrams.  Xo  rule,  of  course,  can  be  laid  down.  Each 
writer  must  decide  whether,  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
average  reader,  the  particular  statement  which  he  makes  needs  eluci- 
dation or  will  be  made  more  effective  by  Illustration. 

A  writer  should  remember  that  the  average  reader  does  not 
have  the  patience  of  the  specialist  in  "wading  through"  details  unless 
they  add  directly  to  an  understanding  of  the  discussion.     Anything 


*Many  successful  writers  have  testified  that  they  secure  a  great  deal  of  help 
from  reading  aloud  from  some  good  writer.  In  this  way  they  are  able  to  get  the 
"feel"  of  the  style  of  the  author.  One  successful  young  writer  made  it  a  practice 
before  beginning  the  writing  of  an  article  to  read  aloud  from  the  works  of  William 
James.  He  did  this  not  for  the  purpose  of  understanding  James  but  rather  for 
stimulating  in  his  own  thinking  a  flow  of  words  which  would  have  the  quality  of 
force  and  beauty  as  well  as  of  clearness. . 

[25] 


which  is  of  use  in  increasing  the  interest  of  the  reader  is  justified, 
but  anything  which  is  mere  ornamentation  is  to  be  condemned.  It 
may  be  said  in  general  that  flights  of  the  imagination,  elaborate 
figures  of  speech,  and  the  use  of  poetical  quotations  are  to  be  avoided 
in  reporting  educational  research.  Instead  of  assisting  the  reader 
in  understanding  the  "trend  of  thought,"  they  usually  distract  him. 
Furthermore,  quotations,  especially  of  a  poetical  nature,  often  serve 
to  camouflage  a  lack  of  thinking  on  the  part  of  the  writer  and  tend 
to  create  in  his  readers  a  feeling  of  distrust. 

12.  Rhetoric,  grammar,  spelling,  and  punctuation.  The  authors 
of  this  bulletin  have  not  attempted  a  systematic  or  a  complete  treat- 
ment of  rhetoric,  grammar,  spelling,  and  punctuation.  The  following 
discussion  is  limited  to  a  few  rules  which,  judging  from  our  experi- 
ence, are  frequently  violated  in  the  kinds  of  educational  writing  re- 
ferred to  in  this  bulletin.  For  complete  and  authoritative  treat- 
ments of  rhetoric  and  grammar  the  reader  Is  referred  to  the  following 
manuals: 

Greever,  Garland,  and  Jones,  Easley  S.    The  Century  Handbook  of  Writing. 

New  York:  The  Century  Company,  1919.     228  p. 
Leonard,  Arthur  W.,  and  Fuess,  Claude  M.     Good  Writing.     New  York: 

Harcourt,  Brace  and  Company,  1922.     314  p. 
Manly,  John  M.,  and  Powell,  John  A.    A  Manual   for  Waiters.     Chicago: 

University  of  Chicago  Press,  1913.     225  p. 
Manly,   John   M.,   and  Richert,   Edith.     The  Writer's   Index.     New   York: 

Henr>'  Holt  and  Company,  1923.     261  p. 

Paragraph  construction.  A  paragraph  should  be  restricted  to 
the  presentation  of  a  single  central  idea  and  very  closely  related 
subordinate  ideas.  It  should  represent  a  unit  of  a  writer's  discussion, 
and  should  embody  unity,  coherence,  clearness,  and  emphasis.  Its 
central  Idea  in  all  cases  should  be  apparent  to  the  reader,  and  some- 
times should  be  expressed  In  the  first  sentence.  A  paragraph  should 
never  close  with  a  weak  ending. 

No  rule  can  be  stated  in  regard  to  the  length  of  a  paragraph, 
but  In  general  long  paragraphs  should  be  avoided.  It  Is  seldom  that 
paragraphs  which  exceed  200  to  250  words  in  length  are  really 
good.  The  poor  structure  is  not  due  to  the  length  of  the  paragraph 
but  rather  to  the  fact  that  many  writers,  particularly  amateurs, 
begin  a  new  unit  of  thought  by  the  time  they  have  written  in  ex- 
cess of  200  words. 

Sentence  construction.  The  essentials  of  a  sentence  are  good 
connection,  good  organization,  and  correct  grammar.    The  untrained 

[26] 


writer  frequently  finds  it  difficult  to  attain  good  sentenc2  structure. 
Faults  of  grammar  usually  can  be  corrected  with  comparatively 
little  effort,  but  practice  is  necessary  in  order  to  secure  good  organi- 
zation. Frequently  it  is  necessary  to  divide  sentences,  to  twist  them 
about,  to  join  or  to  condense  them,  and  in  some  stubborn  cases  to 
make  a  complete  reconstruction.'^ 

Punctuation.  The  main  rules  of  punctuation  regarding  the  more 
important  uses  of  the  period,  comma,  and  so  forth  are  well-fixed  and 
acceptedby  all  authorities  and  should  be  carefully  observed  in  sentence 
structure.  However,  a  variety  of  usage  exists  concerning  minor 
points.  Certain  persons  and  publishers  tend  to  punctuate  freely, 
others  sparingly.  Each  writer  should  decide  regarding  the  method 
of  punctuation  he  wishes  to  adopt  and  should  be  consistent  through- 
out his  manuscript  in  the  use  of  that  method.  He  should  keep  in 
mind  that  punctuation  depends  upon  meaning;  some  marks  are 
essential  to  clearness;  others,  though  not  essential,  are  helpful; 
and  all  which  do  not  aid  in  making  the  meaning  clear  should  be 
avoided. 

13.  Form  of  tables  and  graphs,  (a)  Tables.  Statistical  data 
usually  should  be  presented  in  tabular  form  with  a  specific  heading 
and  a  table  number  in  Roman  numerals.  Occasionally  when  the 
data  are  simple  and  do  not  occupy  more  than  three  or  four  lines, 
they  are  presented  informally  without  a  heading;  but  this  practice 
is  to  be  discouraged. 

The  construction  of  good  tables  is  difficult  and  few  general  rules 
can  be  given  which  will  apply  in  all  cases. ^°  Frequently,  it  will  be 
necessary  for  the  writer  to  exercise  his  ingenuity  in  order  to  set  up 
good  tables.  As  a  guiding  principle  he  should  bear  in  mind  that  a 
table  should  be  easily  read  and  should  present  the  data  effectively. 
Also  he  should  consider  the  available  space  on  the  page,  and  unless 
the  presentation  of  the  data  is  weakened,  he  should  confine  the  table 
to  a  single  page  of  the  manuscript.  Extremely  large  tables  often  can 
be  avoided  by  breaking  them  up  into  two  or  more  separate  ones. 
Each  table  should  have  its  title  or  caption  and  both  the  general  head- 
ing and  the  subordinate  headings  should  be  sufficiently  explicit  that 
the  table  can  be  understood  without  reference  to  the  accompanying 
text. 


*See  Chapter  III,  pages  41-47,  for  illustrations  of  the  improvement  of  sentence 
structure. 

^"See  Chapter  III,  pages  33-34,  for  illustrations  of  the  form  of  tables. 

[27] 


(b)  Graphs.  Frequently  the  effectiveness  of  one's  writing  may 
be  increased  by  presenting  certain  types  of  facts  in  graphical  form. 
Simple  diagrams  and  figures  are  easily  understood  by  most  readers 
and  are  especially  helpful  to  those  who  have  difficulty  in  getting  the 
meaning  from  the  printed  page. 

When  employing  graphical  methods  of  expression,  accuracy  and 
precision  should  be  observed  just  as  when  writing  a  verbal  report. 
Since  excellent  treatises  on  graphical  methods  are  easily  accessible/^ 
we  shall  not  discuss  them  in  this  bulletin  but  we  recommend  that  a 
writer  become  familiar  with  the  rules  governing  graphic  representa- 
tion before  he  attempts  to  apply  such  methods.  Violation  of  any  of 
the  standard  rules  may  result  in  conveying  misleading  if  not  actually 
erroneous  ideas  to  the  reader. 

In  addition  to  the  rules  relating  to  the  form  of  graphs,  there 
are  others  which  define  conventional  practices  relative  to  arrange- 
ment and  to  the  labeling  of  a  figure.  The  caption  should  always  be 
placed  below  the  graphs  and  the  number  should  be  in  Arabic  numer- 
als, not  Roman.  If  possible  all  the  labels  of  the  diagram  should 
be  arranged  so  that  they  can  be  read  when  the  page  is  held  in  one 
position.  A  "confused  mass"  of  lines  and  labels  should  be  avoided, 
but  sufficient  identifying  and  explanatory  marks  should  be  included 
that  a  competent  person  will  be  able  to  understand  the  graph  without 
referring  to  the  accompanying  text. 

In  making  graphs,  or  In  preparing  illustrations  such  as  draw- 
ings or  photographs  for  which  any  process  of  photogravure  is 
necessary  for  printing,  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  a  good 
print  unless  the  original  is  sharp  and  clear  should  always  be  borne 
in  mind.  India  ink  rather  than  ordinary  ink  or  pencil  should  be 
used  in  making  graphs.  Captions  and  other  labels  may  be  type- 
written.   As  a  rule,  all  illustrations  should  be  made  somewhat  larger 


"For  a  brief  account  see: 

RuGG,  Harold.  A  Primer  of  Graphics  and  Statistics  for  Teachers.  Boston: 
Houghton  Mifflin  Company,  1925.    142  p. 

Alexander,  Carter.  School  Statistics  and  Pubhcity.  Xew  York:  Silver, 
Burdett  and  Company,  1919.     332  p. 

For  a  more  elaborate  treatment  see: 

Karsten,  Karl  G.  Charts  and  Graphs.  New  York:  Prentice  Hall.  Inc.. 
1923.    724  p. 

Brinton,  W.  C.  Graphic  Methods  for  Presenting  Facts.  New  York:  Engineer- 
ing Magazine  Company,  1914.    371  p. 

WiLLL\MS,  J.  Harold.  Graphic  Methods  in  Education.  Boston:  Houghton 
Mifflin  Company,  1924.    319  p. 

[28] 


than  desired  in  the  printed  report  as  reduction  in  photographing 
tends  to  sharpen  the  details  while  enlargment  magnifies  the  imper- 
fections. 

14.  Explanation  and  interpretation  of  tables  and  graphs.  Un- 
less it  is  certain  that  a  table  or  graph  will  be  understood  easily, 
the  reading  of  it  should  be  explained  in  the  text  of  the  manuscript, 
but  no  extended  enumeration  of  the  facts  which  have  been  sum- 
marized in  the  table  or  graph  should  be  given.  The  interpretation 
should  be  confined  to  those  facts  which  are  essential  to  the  discussion 
of  the  problem.  The  reader's  "trend  of  thought"  will  be  broken  if 
his  attention  is  called  to  items  or  inferences  not  related  to  the  par- 
ticular problem  under  consideration.  Tables  and  graphs  should 
be  considered  supplementary  to  the  text  and  not  intimate  parts  of 
it.  They  supply  details  in  a  convenient  summary  form,  they  also 
add  emphasis,  but  they  do  not  express  a  "trend  of  thought." 

15.  References  to  sources  of  information.  When  specific  facts 
are  used  or  sentences  or  paragraphs  from  another's  writings  are 
quoted,  it  is  customary  to  give  in  a  footnote  the  source  from  which 
such  material  is  taken.  This  is  done  for  two  reasons:  custom  demands 
that  a  writer  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  in  such  cases;  and  the  ref- 
erence enables  the  reader  to  consult  the  original  material  if  he  so  de- 
sires. Furthermore,  the  information  regarding  the  source  of  a  state- 
ment frequently  furnishes  the  reader  with  an  index  of  its  probable 
validity  and  accuracy.  Naturally  more  confidence  is  placed  in  data 
taken  from  the  writings  of  a  person  of  reputation  or  from  a  source 
carefully  edited  than  from  unknown  authors  or  questionable 
publishers. 

16.  Bibliographical  forms.  Whenever  a  reference  is  made  to 
the  work  of  another  author,  sufficient  information  should  be  given 
to  enable  one  not  only  to  locate  the  material  but  also  to  purchase  it. 
Sometimes  full  information  is  not  given  on  the  publication  and  In 
such  case  the  reference  cannot,  of  course,  be  complete.^- 

17.  Chapter  titles,  table  of  contents,  preface,  title  page,  spacing, 
order  of  paging,  paper,  and  so  forth.^^  The  chapter  title  should  be 
concisely  expressed  and  should  indicate  the  purpose  of  the  chapter. 


"See  Chapter  III,  pages  35-37,  for  illustrations  of  bibliographical  forms. 

"See  Chapter  III,  pages  37-39,  for  specific  directions  regarding  items  listed.  In 
term  papers,  minor  theses,  small  pamphlets,  in  which  there  are  no  explicit  divisions, 
there  would  probably  be  no  table  of  contents,  nor  preface.  Lists  of  tables,  etc.  are 
also  omitted. 

[29] 


The  table  of  contents  may  be  very  simple,  consisting  of  only 
the  titles  of  the  chapters,  or  may  be  elaborate  with  subordinate  head- 
ings and  second  sub-headings.  In  many  publications  the  chapter 
title  itself  is  followed  by  an  outline  or  brief  synopsis  of  the  contents 
of  the  chapter.  No  definite  rules  regarding  the  comprehensiveness 
of  the  table  of  contents  can  be  given.  Especially  in  such  material  as 
a  thesis  or  a  bulletin  in  which  there  is  no  index,  it  is  probably  desir- 
able to  list  in  some  detail  the  divisions  and  subdivisions  of  the 
different  parts  or  chapters. 

The  preface  usually  contains  acknowledgments  of  assistance  to 
persons  who  have  given  actual  aid  in  the  preparation  of  the  manu- 
script, or  whose  books  and  other  writings  are  used  as  references.  In 
the  case  of  a  thesis  the  term  "acknowledgment"  is  often  used  instead 
of  "preface."  A  preface  should  be  simple  and  dignified,  should  give 
some  indication  of  the  audience  to  whom  it  is  addressed,  and  should 
contain  some  statements  of  the  reasons  for  the  writing  of  the 
manuscript. 

18.  Footnotes.  Footnotes  fulfill  three  principal  functions:  (1)  to 
give  a  bibliographical  reference  for  quoted  material  or  for  facts  and 
statements;  (2)  to  qualify  or  elaborate  statements  of  the  text  when 
it  is  undesirable  to  include  such  comments  in  the  body  of  the  manu- 
script; (3)  to  suggest  further  treatment  of  the  subject.  Footnotes 
are  apt  to  be  treated  more  carelessly  and  inconsistently  than  any 
other  part  of  the  manuscript.  They  should,  however,  receive  a 
writer's  careful  attention  in  regard  to  sentence  structure,  punctuation, 
and  so  forth,  and  especially  in  regard  to  the  form  of  bibliographical 
references.^* 

19.  Miscellaneous,  (a)  Abbreviations.  Abbreviations  of  words 
or  phrases  are  not  generally  considered  good  form  in  the  body  of  the 
report.  An  exception  is  often  made  in  regard  to  titles  of  persons  as 
"Mr.,"  "Dr.,"  or  "Prof."  No  one  rule  can  be  given  in  this  case  but 
consistency  is  urged  both  in  the  use  and  in  the  selection  of  the  title. 
For  example,  "Dr."  should  not  be  used  in  referring  to  one  person,  and 
"Mr."  or  "Prof."  to  another  of  the  same  rank  or  position;  or  the  title 
should  not  be  given  in  one  case,  and  omitted  in  another.  Further- 
more when  titles  are  used,  extreme  care  regarding  their  correctness 
should  be  taken.     It  may  be  said  that  "Professor"  is  usually  written. 


"A    detailed   description   of   the   form   of   footnotes    is   given   in   Chapter    III» 
page  39. 

[301 


in  full,  "Doctor"  frequently,  and  "Mister"  seldom,  if  at  all.  A  safe 
and  widely  used  method  is  to  omit  titles  altogether,  especially  if  the 
person  has  attained  prominence.  In  scholastic  circles,  however,  it 
is  customary  to  refer  to  the  President  of  an  institution  by  his  title 
written  in  full. 

(b)  Division  of  words.  The  unnecessary  division  of  a  word 
at  the  end  of  a  line  should  be  avoided  if  possible.  Unless  objection- 
able spacing  results,  it  is  better  to  carry  the  whole  word  over  to 
the  next  line.  When  divisions  are  necessary,  the  following  suggestions 
may  prove  helpful. 

Words  in  general  are  divided  according  to  the  natural  divisions 
in  correct  pronunciation  as  knowl-edge,  not  knozv-ledge.  Acceptable 
divisions  may  be  made  before  such  terminations  as  ing,  er,  est; 
immediately  following  a  vowel  as  intri-cate,  mascu-Iine;  or  between 
the  consonants  when  two  consonants  occur  between  two  vowels  as 
inej-jective,  mflam-mable.  In  language  other  than  English  the  most 
important  rule  is  to  divide  on  the  vowel  as  far  as  possible.  If  at  all 
avoidable,  two  consecutive  lines  should  not  terminate  in  a  hyphen. 

In  the  following  cases,  divisions  should  never  be  made:  mono- 
syllables, as  zveight,  stopped;  two  vowels  sounded  as  one,  as  mea-dozu, 
peo-ple;  proper  names;  initials  of  a  person's  name;  abbreviations  as, 
Ph.D.,  A.B.;  or  numbers  expressed  either  in  Arabic  or  Roman 
numerals. 

(c)  Spelling  out  numbers.  In  general,  all  numbers  under  one 
hundred,  and  all  round  numbers,  as  two  thousand,  five  hundred, 
and  so  forth  should  be  spelled  out.  Decimals  as  money  and  percents, 
numbers  over  one  hundred  and  those  used  statistically  in  enumera- 
tions are  usually  written  in  figures.  Any  number,  however,  used  to 
begin  a  sentence  should  be  spelled  out. 


[31] 


CHAPTER  III 

ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  CERTAIN  DETAILS  OF  FORM 

For  several  of  the  criteria  noted  under  "Details  of  structure  and 
form"  in  Chapter  II,  the  authors  of  this  bulletin  feel  that  a  supple- 
mentary discussion,  largely  in  terms  of  illustrations,  will  be  helpful 
to  a  writer  in  making  his  report  conform  to  conventional  require- 
ments. Custom  has  given  somewhat  definite  sanction  to  certain 
forms  of  tabular  construction,  bibliographical  references,  footnotes, 
and  so  forth;  conventional  rules  have  been  fairly  well  established  with 
reference  to  the  placement  of  a  chapter  title,  the  arrangement  of  a 
table  of  contents,  the  order  of  paging  a  manuscript  or  a  printed  bulle- 
tin, the  spacing,  and  the  size  and  kind  of  paper  used.  Details  of  this 
type  are  discussed  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter.  Following  this 
discussion,  consideration  is  given  to  certain  aspects  of  sentence 
structure  which,  judging  from  the  experience  of  the  authors  in  editing 
manuscripts  submitted  to  them  for  publication,  appear  to  give  the 
greatest  difhculty  to  the  average  writer. 

Form  of  tables.  The  caption  of  a  table  is  usually  written  in  all 
capitals  with  no  punctuation  mark  at  its  close.  (See  Table  I.)  If 
there  is  a  sub-title,  it  is  placed  on  the  line  below  the  main  title  and 
written  in  capitals  and  small  letters.  (See  Table  IV.)  When  a  second 
sub-title  is  considered  necessary,  it  should  appear,  usually  in  paren- 
theses, below  the  sub-title. 

Tables  should  be  numbered  with  Roman  figures  consecutively 
throughout  the  manuscript.  The  number  followed  by  a  period  pre- 
cedes the  caption  and  appears  on  the  same  line. 

Careful  attention  should  be  given  to  the  various  box  heads 
(headings  and  sub-headings)  of  the  different  divisions  of  the  table. 
Rules,  horizontal  and  vertical,  should  be  drawn  setting  off  the  main 
and  sub-divisions,  and  each  box-head  should  be  centered  in  its  own 
division. 

The  following  directions  regarding  the  ruling  of  a  table  should 
prove  helpful.  Horizontal  double  lines  are  placed  at  the  top  of  the 
table,  a  horizontal  single  line  at  the  bottom,  and  no  vertical  lines 
at  the  sides.  Within  the  table,  vertical  lines  are  placed  between  the 
columns  of  data,   horizontal  lines  are  seldom  used  except  to  mark 

[32] 


off  important  divisions  as  in  the  box  headings  or  to  set  off  totals. 
Perpendicular  double  lines  should  be  used  only  when  the  table  is 
doubled  upon  itself,  that  is,  when  exactly  the  same  kind  of  data 
appears  on  both  sides  of  the  double  rules.  This  is  done  in  order 
to  break  long  narrow  columns  of  data.  (See  Table  II.)  An  open 
table,  that  is,  a  table  with  no  perpendicular  lines  should  not  be  used 
for  more  than  three  columns  of  data.  (See  Table  III.)  If  such  a 
table  is  long,  it  is  often  better  to  double  it  upon  itself  as  in  Table  II. 
Illustrations  of  tables.  The  following  specimen  tables  are  given 
as  illustrations  of  the  forms  most  commonly  used  in  tabular  con- 
struction. The  first  column  division  is  known  as  "the  stub"  and 
consists  usually  of  reading  material.  The  other  columns  as  a  rule 
contain  figures. 


Table  I.    Example  of  a  Simple  Table 


Test 

Form 

Grade 

Scores 

Scorers 

DiflFerence 

Table  II.    Example  of  a  Table  Doubled  Upon  Itself 


Series  C 

Series  C 

City 

Number  of 
cases 

Percent   of 
cases 

City 

Number  of 
cases 

Percent   of 
cases 

Table  III.    Example  of  an  Open  Table 


Name  of  City 

Boston 

Chicago 


Number  of  Tests 
Given 


Time  of  Testing 

. . . .  October 3 

, . . .  February 6 


[33] 


Table  IV.    Example  of  Table  With  Subdivisions 
This  is  the  Most  Common  Form  for  Subdivisions  and  Second  Subdivisions. 


Achievement  Quotients 

Intelligence 
Quotients 

Experimental 

Control 

• 

Beginning 

End 

Beginning 

End 

Table  V.    Example  of  Table  With  Varied  Divisions 


States 

Number 

of 
Factories 

Number  of  Employees 

Men 

Women 

Boys 

Girls 

Total 

Form  of  bibliographical  references.  All  references  in  either  a 
footnote  or  a -formal  bibliography  should  be  given  in  an  approved 
form.  Although  slight  variations  in  the  order  of  the  items  of  a  ref- 
erence and  in  punctuation  are  found  in  different  authoritative  publi- 
cations, it  is  highly  important  that  a  writer  adopt  a  definite  form 
and  follow  it  consistently.  The  forms  adopted  by  the  Bureau  of 
Educational  Research  in  its  own  publications  are  given  on  the  follow- 
ing pages. 

It  should  be  emphasized  that  the  author's  name  should  be  copied 
exactly  as  it  appears,  no  change  of  any  kind  being  made  in  it.  If 
two  or  more  references  by  the  same  author  occur  in  the  bibliography, 
his  name  should  appear  in  the  same  form  in  each  even  though  in  the 
actual  references  initials  may  have  been  used  in  one  case  and 
the  given  names  spelled  out  in  another.  In  a  bibliography  the  ref- 
erences usually  should  be  arranged  in  alphabetical  order  according 
to  the  names  of  the  authors  regardless  of  the  nature  of  the  publi- 
cations. 

The  forms  listed  here  as  illustrations  have  been  labeled  "book 
reference,"  "periodical  reference,"  and  so  forth,  so  that  they  could  be 
easily  referred  to,  but  the  reader  should  understand  that  it  is  not 


[34] 


necessary  to  label  a  reference  as  a  book,  a  periodical,  or  a  report,  for 
when  a  correct  bibliographical  form  is  used,  this  fact  becomes  evident. 
Book  references.  In  a  book  reference  there  arc  usually  six  items 
to  be  included.  They  should  be  arranged  in  the  following  order: 
author  or  authors,  title,  place  of  publisher,  publisher,  date  and  pages. 
If  one  or  more  of  these  items  is  not  given  in  the  publication,  the 
arrangement  of  those  remaining  should  follow  the  order  stated  above. 
The  book  references  given  below  show  the  capitalization  and 
punctuation  which  should  be  used. 

Potter,  Milton  C,  Jeschke,  H.,  and  Billet,  Harry  O.  Oral  and  Written 
English,  Intermediate  Book.    Boston:    Ginn  and  Company,   1921.    270  p. 

Terman,  Louis  M.  The  Hygiene  of  the  School  Child.  Boston:  Houghton 
Mifflin  Company,  1914,  p.  3+5-56. 

Please  note  that  the  first  reference  gives  the  correct  form  for 
indicating  the  entire  number  of  pages  contained  in  a  book  while  the 
second  reference  gives  the  form  when  a  few  specific  pages  are  referred 
to.  A  reference  to  a  specific  section  of  a  book  or  bulletin  has  a 
comma  after  the  date,  and  for  this  reason  is  indicated  by  p. —  rather 
than  — p.  ~ 

Periodical  references.  In  a  periodical  reference,  the  title  of  the 
article  is  inclosed  in  quotation  marks.  This  at  once  sets  it  off  from 
a  book  reference.  The  items  necessary  for  complete  information 
should  be  given  in  the  following  order:  author,  title,  name  in  full  of 
periodical,  number  of  volume  in  Arabic  figures,  number  of  pages 
inclusive  on  zvhich  article  appears^  month  and  year  of  publication. 

The  publisher  of  the  periodical  is  not  included  in  the  reference; 
for  if  desired  for  purchasing  purposes  it  may  easily  be  found.  The 
references  below  show  the  capitalization  and  punctuation  which 
should  be  used,  and  also  give  the  forms  for  continued  articles,  and 
for  editorials. 

A  single  article: 

FoRDYCE,  Charles.  "IntelHgence  tests  in  classifying  children  in  the  elementary 
school."    Journal  of  Educational  Research,  4:40-43,  June,   1921. 

An  article  continued  in  separate  volumes  of  a  periodical: 

Mead,  Cyrus*D.  "Silent  versus  oral  reading  with  one  hundred  sixth-grade 
children."  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology,  6:345-48,  June.  1915;  8:367-68, 
June.  1917. 


^If  the  writer  wishes  to  refer  to  certain  pages  or  a  page  instead  of  the  entire 
article,  these  should  be  given  rather  than  the  total  inclusive  pages. 

[35] 


An  article  continued  in  the  same  volume  of  a  periodical: 

Henderson,  Archibald.  '"Number,  and  the  fundamental  laws  of  algebra,"  The 
High  School  Journal,  4:51-53,  77-80,  171-73;  March,  April,  December,  1921. 

An  editorial  from  a  periodical: 

Courtis,  S.  A.  "Scientific  supervision,"  Journal  of  Educational  Research, 
1:67-68,  January,  1920.     (An  editorial.) 

Monograph  and  bulletin  references.  In  addition  to  the  material 
appearing  in  books  and  periodicals,  there  is  a  large  quantity  usually 
published  by  a  university,  a  board  of  education,  or  some  other 
organized  body.  This  is  called  "bulletin  material."  Usually  there 
are  seven  items  to  be  given  in  a  reference  for  a  bulletin.  These  items 
are  the  same  as  those  included  in  a  reference  to  a  book  with  the  addi- 
tion of  certain  information  called  description,  which  includes  name, 
volume  and  number  of  the  series  of  which  the  bulletin  is  a  part,  and 
immediately  follows  the  title.  The  items  should  be  arranged  in  the 
following  order:  author  or  authors,  title,  description,  place,  publisher, 
date,  and  pages.  In  case  one  or  more  of  the  items  is  not  given  in 
the  publication,  the  others  should  be  arranged  in  the  order  stated 
above.  The  references  of  bulletins  given  here  show  the  proper 
capitalization  and  punctuation.  All  necessary  information  concerning 
the  publication  should  be  included.  It  will  be  necessary  to  watch 
closely  that  no  series,  names  and  numbers,  volume  numbers,  and  so 
forth  are  omitted. 

United  States  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin: 

Capen,  Samuel  Paul.  "Facilities  for  foreign  students  in  American  colleges  and 
universities."  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education  Bulletin,  1920,  No.  39.  Washington. 
1920.    267  p. 

Teachers  College  Contributions  to  Education: 

Berkson,  I.  B.  "Theories  of  Americanization."  Teachers  College  Contributions 
to  Education,  No.  109.  New  York:  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  1920. 
. 226  p. 

A  school  survey: 

"An  educational  survey  of  Janesville,  Wisconsin."  Madison.  Wisconsin:  State 
Department  of  Public  Instruction,   1918.    226  p. 

A  school  report:  • 

"Annual  report,  1918-19,  Alton  Public  Schools."  Alton.  Illinois:  Board  of 
Education,  1919.    156  p. 

A  course  of  study: 

"Synopsis  of  courses  of  study,  1920-21.  In  public  schools."  Davenport,  Iowa: 
Board  of  Education,  1920.    133  p. 

[36] 


Bulletins  published  by  universities  and  other  organized  bodies: 

Meyer,  Harold  D.  '"The  rural  playground."  University  of  North  Carolina 
Extension  Bulletin,  Vol.  1,  No.  6.  Chapel  Hill:  University  of  North  Carolina, 
1921.   78  p. 

Monroe,  Walter  S.  (Edited  by)^  "Studies  in  arithmetic  1916-17."  University 
of  Indiana  Studies,  Vol.  5,  Bureau  of  Cooperative  Research  Study  No.  38.  Bloom- 
ington:    University  of  Indiana,  1918.   40  p. 

Holly,  Chas.  E.  "Mental  tests  for  school  use."  University  of  Illinois  Bulletin, 
Vol.  17,  No.  28,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  Bulletin  No.  4.  Urbana:  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois.  1920.   91  p. 

Shultis,  Frank  W.,  and  Hellman,  J.  D.  "A  study  in  addition."  Colorado 
State  Teachers  College  Bulletin,  Series  16,  No.  3,  Research  Bulletin  No.  1.  Greeley: 
Colorado  State  Teachers  College,  1916.    16  p. 

An  article  within  a  yearbook  or  any  bound  volume: 

Baldwin,  B.  T.   "A  measuring  scale  for  physical  growth  and  physiological  age." 

Fifteenth  Yearbook  of  the  National   Society  for  the   Study  of  Education,   Part  I. 

Bloomington,  Illinois:    Public  School  Publishing  Company,  1916,  p.  20-21. 

Miscellaneous  material  published  by  boards  of  education: 

Deamer,  Arthur.  "An  experiment  in  acceleration."  Fargo,  North  Dakota: 
Board  of  Education,  1918.    32  p. 

"The  arithmetical  abilities  of  school  children  as  shown  by  Courtis  tests." 
Board  of  Education,  Division  of  Reference  and  Research  Bulletin  No.  1.  Cleveland, 
Ohio:  Board  of  Education,  1917. 

Sexton,  Elmer  K.  "Arithmetic  survey  in  the  public  schools  of  Newark,  N.  J." 
Board  of  Education  Monograph.   Newark,  N.  J.:    Board  of  Education,  1919.    30  p. 

Sprain,  Charles  L.,  Moehlman,  Arthur  B.,  and  Harrington,  H.  L.  "The 
intermediate  school  in  Detroit."  The  Detroit  Educational  Bulletin,  Research  Bulletin 
No.  6.   Detroit:    Board  of  Education,  1921.    39  p. 

General  directions  regarding  final  form  of  a  manuscript.^   The 

paper  should  be  of  ordinary  weight,  of  uniform  size,  S^/o  by  11  inches, 
and  only  one  side  should  be  used  for  writing. 

Title  page.*  The  title  of  the  manuscript  should  be  written  in  all 
capitals  and  should  be  placed  two  inches  or  more  below  the  top  of 
the  page.  The  author's  name  should  appear  in  full,  placed  below 
the  title,  and  usually  preceded  by  the  word  "By"  written  just  above. 
On  the  line  below  the  author's  name,  his  institutional  connection 
and  rank  are  often  given.     In  a  thesis,  previous  degrees,  institutions. 


'If  a  reference  is  edited,  compiled  or  prepared  by  someone  in  such  a  way  that 
he  cannot  strictly  be  said  to  be  the  author,  this  fact  should  be  indicated  by  placing 
a  notation  in  parentheses  immediately  following  his  name. 

^In  the  final  typing  of  a  thesis  or  of  a  report  any  rules  prescribed  by  the  col- 
lege or  by  the  department  should  be  carefully  followed.  The  directions  listed  here 
are  representative  of  good  form  and  should  be  observed  except  in  those  cases  where 
they  conflict  with  institutional  requirements. 

^Sample  title  pages  for  a  course  of  study,  a  superintendent's  report,  and  a 
bulletin  are  given  in  the  appendix,  p.  61. 

[37] 


] 


and  dates  should  be  listed.  In  a  term  paper,  the  title  and  the  author's 
name  should  be  given  as  in  the  description  above;  the  names  of  the 
course  and  instructor  in  charge  may  be  added,  preferably  on  lines 
near  the  bottom  of  the  page. 

Table  of  contents.  \Mien  a  report  is  divided  into  chapters  with 
titles,  there  should  be  a  table  of  contents  which  gives  the  chapter 
titles  preceded  by  the  Roman  numerals  I,  II,  III,  and  so  forth.  When 
subordinate  headings  are  given  they  should  be  indented  and  may  be 
numbered  by  Arabic  figures  or  by  capital  letters.  In  case  there 
are  second  sub-headings,  further  indentation  should  be  used  and  the 
numbering  may  be  done  by  means  of  letters,  a,  b,  c,  and  so  forth,  or 
by  Arabic  figures  enclosed  in  parentheses.  The  plan  of  numbering  in 
the  table  of  contents  should  be  the  same  as  that  observed  in  the 
manuscript.  When  a  report  is  not  formally  divided  into  chapters,  it 
is  frequently  desirable  to  give  a  brief  description  of  the  contents. 
In  all  cases  the  table  of  contents  should  appear  alone  upon  the 
page  or  even  upon  successive  pages.  If  brief,  it  should  be  so  placed 
as  to  give  approximately  equal  spacing  above  and  below  the  written 
material. 

List  of  illustrations,  figures  or  tables.  The  list  of  illustrations 
or  figures  should  give  the  titles  of  the  illustrations  preceded  by  the 
numbers  in  Arabic  as  1,  2,  3;  the  list  of  tables  should  give  the 
captions  of  the  tables  preceded  by  the  Roman  numerals  as  I,  II.  In 
case  a  manuscript  includes  illustrations,  figures  and  tables,  separate 
lists  should  be  given  for  each. 

Spacing.  The  text  proper  should  be  double-spaced.  Quoted 
material  appearing  In  a  separate  paragraph  may  be  single-spaced. 
The  left-hand  margin  should  be  from  an  Inch  to  an  inch  and  one- 
half.'  The  right-hand  margin  may  be  somewhat  narrower.^  The  first 
line  of  a  new  paragraph  should  be  Indented  at  least  one  inch. 

First  page  of  text.  The  first  page  of  the  text  may  or  may  not 
contain  the  title  of  the  manuscript.  If  the  title  is  given  It  should  be 
in  capitals,  and  should  be  dropped  about  two  inches  from  the  top 
of  the  page.  The  word  "Chapter,"  all  capitals,  followed  by  the 
Roman  numeral,  should  appear  on  the  line  about  three  spaces  below 


°In  preliminary  drafts  of  a  manuscript  it  is  well  to  have  both  margins  some- 
what wider.     Some  writers  have  found  it  desirable  to  triple-space  the  text  in  order 

to  provide  space  for  insertions  and  corrections. 


[38] 


the  title  of  the  manuscript.  The  chapter-title,  usually  in  all  capitals 
also,  is  placed  on  the  line  below  the  chapter  number.  The  text  of 
the  chapter  should  begin  an  inch  or  more  below  the  title.  Each 
new  chapter  should  begin  a  new  page  with  the  number  and  title 
written  as  described  for  the  first. 

Order  of  paging.  The  pages  of  the  manuscript  should  be  num- 
bered consecutively,  and  assembled  in  the  following  order:  (1)  title 
page,  (2)  preface,  (3)  table  of  contents,  (4)  list  of  illustrations, 
figures,  or  tables,  (5)  introduction,  (6)  first  page  of  text,  and  so  forth. 
If  it  is  necessary  to  add  extra  pages  to  the  original,  they  may  bear  the 
number  of  the  preceding  page  with  letters  added  as  10a,  10b,  10c. 
If  only  a  short  passage  is  to  be  inserted,  it  may  be  pasted  on 
the  margin  and  folded  In.  In  attaching  inserts,  pins  or  paper  clips 
should  not  be  used  as  they  are  apt  to  work  loose.  In  case  the  inser- 
tion consists  of  a  few  words  or  of  a  short  sentence,  it  is  probably 
advisable  to  use  a  caret  and  write  In  the  space  above  or  In  the 
margin.  If  certain  pages  are  withheld  or  dropped  for  any  reason,  an 
indication  of  this  should  be  given  on  a  sheet  bearing  the  omitted 
numbers. 

Form  of  footnotes.  In  general  the  rules  for  complete  sentence 
structure,  punctuation,  and  so  forth,  apply  to  footnotes  as  to  other 
portions  of  the  manuscript.  x\bbreviations,  however,  such  as  "art." 
(article),  "chap."'  (chapter),  "fig."  (figure),  and  "vol."  (volume), 
not  acceptable  in  the  text,  may  be  used. 

Bibliographical  references  should  be  given  in  the  regular  form. 
(See  page  34).  When  references  to  the  same  work  follow  each  other 
closely  and  uninterruptedly  on  the  same  page,  "ibid."  (an  abbrevia- 
tion of  Ibidem,  same)  may  be  used.  If,  however,  the  page  has  been 
turned.  It  Is  necessar}-  to  repeat  the  entire  reference  or  to  use  simply 
the  author's  name  followed  by  "loc.  cit."  (loco  citato,  in  the  place 
cited)  or  "op.  cit."  (opere  citato.  In  the  work  cited).     For  example: 

Bloomfield,  Meyer.  Youth,  School  and  Vocation.  Boston:  Houghton  Mif- 
flin Company,  1915.  On  the  same  page,  "ibid.;"  on  the  following  page  '"Bloomfield, 
loc.  cit."'  or  "Bloomfield,  op.  cit." 

No  one  rule  can  be  given  for  the  numbering  of  footnotes.  The 
best  plan,  probably,  is  to  give  consecutive  numbers  throughout  a 
chapter,  or  throughout  the  entire  report  If  no  Important  divisions  are 
made.  Footnotes  to  tables  or  to  figures  should  be  placed  at  the  fool 
of  the  table  both  in  the  typewritten  manuscript  and  on  the  printed 

[39] 


page.  Asterisks,  daggers,  and  so  forth  are  usually  used  to  indicate 
footnotes  in  such  cases  where  figures  might  cause  confusion. 

Improvement  of  sentence  structure.  The  authors  of  this  bulletin 
have  iound  that,  in  the  manuscripts  submitted  to  them  during  the 
past  four  years,  certain  principles  of  sentence  structure*'  are  violated 
repeatedly  and  certain  writers  tend  to  make  the  same  mistakes 
again  and  again.  These  manuscripts  in  most  cases  had  been  care- 
fully prepared  and  revised  and  were  considered  by  their  writers  as 
practically  ready  for  publication.  It  is  hoped,  therefore,  that  a  brief 
discussion  of  the  principles  violated,  followed  by  illustrative  sentences 
selected  from  the  manuscripts  referred  to,  may  prove  helpful  to  the 
average  writer  in  detecting  his  errors  and  in  making  his  own  cor- 
rections. The  violations  have  been  classified  somewhat  loosely  under 
the  four  general  headings:  Completeness  of  thought.  Unity  of 
thought,  Clearness  of  thought,  and  Emphasis.  There  is  some  over- 
lapping, of  course,  between  these  four  governing  principles  of  sen- 
tence construction  and  many  of  the  sentences  selected  contain  more 
than  one  violation. 

Completeness  of  thought.  Each  sentence  when  read  alone  should 
convey  a  definite  meaning.  The  writer  because  of  his  familiarity 
with  the  discussion  frequently  omits  words  and  phrases  which  are 
necessary  for  the  complete  understanding  of  the  sentence.  Transi- 
tions often  are  so  vaguely  expressed  that  the  Insertion  of  a  word, 
a  phrase  or  even  a  clause  may  be  found  necessary. 

Unity  of  thought.  Each  sentence  should  contain  but  one  main 
thought.  Violations  such  as  unrelated  ideas,  confusing  details,  ex- 
cessive coordination,  and  faulty  subordination  of  the  main  thought 
especially  should  be  guarded  against. 

Clearness  of  thought.  "Clearness  of  thought  is  fundamental." 
The  writer  must  make  sure  that  his  sentences  cannot  be  misunder- 
stood. Pronouns,  participles,  and  other  dependent  words  should 
refer  without  confusion  to  their  antecedents.  Indefinite  use  of  "it" 
and   "they"   often   causes   ambiguity.      Care   should   be   taken   that 


'For  a  complete  discussion  of  sentence  structure  the  following  books  may  be 
consulted.  The  exercises  for  revision  in  these  books  especially  are  helpful  to  the 
writer  who  wishes  to  make  a  careful  study  of  sentence  construction. 

Greever,  Garland,  and  Jones,  Easley  S.  The  Century  Handbook  of  Writing. 
New  York:   The  Century  Company,   1919.     228p. 

Manly,  John  M.,  and  Rickert,  Edith.  The  Writer's  Index.  New  York: 
Henry  Holt  and  Company,  1923.     261  p. 

[40] 


related  ideas  are  kept  together  and  unrelated  ideas  apart,  and  that 
the  idea  which  comes  first  in  thought  or  in  order  of  time  is  expressed 
first  in  the  sentence.  Misplaced  adverbs  such  as  "only,"  "even," 
"especially;"  split  constructions  such  as  the  awkward  separation  of 
subject  and  verb,  the  parts  of  a  compound  verb  or  the  parts  of  an 
infinitive  should  be  guarded  against.  Correlative  conjunctions  such 
as  "not  only,  but  also;"  "both,  and;"  "either,  or;"  should  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  same  grammatical  construction.  Those  parts  of  a 
sentence  which  are  parallel  in  thought  should  be  given  a  similar 
grammatical  form,  as  in  this  way  the  equal  importance  of  the  words, 
phrases  or  clauses  is  emphasized.  Unnecessary  changes  in  number, 
person  or  tense  throughout  the  manuscript,  and  needless  shifting  of 
the  subject,  the  voice,  or  the  mode  within  a  sentence  should  be 
avoided. 

Emphasis.  Emphasis  in  sentence  structure  is  closely  related  to 
force  in  the  manuscript  as  a  whole.  As  stated  before,  it  depends 
largely  upon  the  arrangement  of  words  and  is  difficult  of  attainment 
by  the  inexperienced  writer.  The  emphatic  positions  in  the  sentence 
are  the  beginning  and  the  end  and  these  places  should  be  reserved 
for  important  words  and  phrases.  Sometimes  a  very  important  idea 
may  be  emphasized  by  being  placed  in  a  brief  sentence  by  itself.  In 
a  series  of  words,  phrases  or  clauses  of  different  degrees  of  import- 
ance, the  order  of  climax  often  is  effective.  The  simplest  and  most 
natural  way  of  emphasizing  words  or  ideas  is  to  repeat  them.  How- 
ever, too  much  repetition  is  tiresome  and  tends  to  weaken  rather 
than  strengthen  the  written  discussion. 

Illustrations  of  the  improvement  of  structure.    The  following 
sentences,  together  with  a  suggested   reconstructed  form.   Illustrate 
violations  of  the  principles  of  sentence  structure. 
Completeness  of  thought 

In  the  following  two  sentences  the  words  included  in  parentheses 
had  been  omitted  so  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  reader  to  look 
back  through  preceding  paragraphs  In  order  to  find  out  the  types 
and  the  drill  referred  to. 

As  regards  the  other  types  (developmental  and  informational)  the  same  rule 
probably  should  apply,  etc. 

Although  drill  (in  the  recognition  of  words)  is  necessary,  it  could  be  relieved 
of  some  of  its  monotonous  features  by  the  introduction  of  various  games. 

[41] 


Loose  rambling  sentence;  main  thought  not  emphasized. 
In  using  all  these  methods  the  teacher  should  have  the  same  aim  in  view  as 
in  all  of  her  direction  of  pupil  activity,  that  is,  that  most,  if  not  all,  that  she  does 

should  stimulate  the  pupil's  thinking. 

Reconstructed   form. 

In  the  use  of  all  these  methods,  as  in  the  direction  of  all  pupil  activity,  the 
teacher's  aim  should  be  to  stimulate  the  pupil's  thinking.       ' 

Sentences  broken  and  generally  not  good  because  of  awkward 
phrases  and  clauses,  over-worked  expressions,  and  so  forth. 

As  a  learner,  the  pupil  may  encounter  difficulties.  In  assisting  the  pupil  to 
overcome  his  particular  difficulty  the  teacher  may  or  may  not  encounter  a  difficulty. 
In  any  case  the  teacher's  difficulty,  although  related  to  the  pupil's  difficulty,  is  not 
identical  with  it. 

Reconstructed  form.  Two  sentences  combined  and  overworked 
words  omitted  in  several  cases;  main  thought  emphasized. 

In  assisting  a  pupil  to  overcome  a  particular  difficulty  which,  as  a  learner,  he 
may  have  encountered,  the  teacher  herself  may  or  may  not  meet  with  difficulties 
also.     Her  difficulty,  however,  although  related  to  the  pupil's,  is  not  identical  with  it. 

Main  thought  subordinated. 

In  the  measurement  of  handwriting  and  of  silent  reading  it  is  extremely  im- 
portant that  the  rate  of  work  be  considered.  It  is  also  important  in  measuring 
abilities  in  a  number  of  other  fields. 

Reconstructed  form.  Main  thought  emphasized  by  being 
placed  in  independent  clause  at  end  of  sentence;  all  other  ideas 
subordinated. 

In  the  measurement  of  handwriting  and  of  silent  reading,  as  well  as  of  abilities 
in  a  number  of  other  fields,  the  rate  of  work  should  be  considered. 

Thought  split  by  being  placed  in  two  sentences. 

It  is  desirable  that  most  answers  be  evaluated  and  criticised  by  the  other 
pupils.  This  is  one  of  the  most  useful  plans  that  a  teacher  can  follow  to  stimulate 
a  critical  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  class  to  lead  its  members  to  thinking. 

Reconstructed  form. 

One  of  the  most  useful  plans  for  stimulating  a  critical  attitude  on  the  part 
of  the  class  and  for  leading  its  members  to  think  is  to  have  the  answers  evaluated 
and  criticised  by  the  other  pupils. 

Unnecessary  details,  awkward  use  of  participles. 

So  doing  encourages  the  duller  pupils  by  giving  them  a  good  number  of 
questions  that  they  can  answer  satisfactorily  or  approximately  so  and  by  not  over- 
whelming them  with  a  large  number  of  questions  that  are  too  difficult.  Likewise  it 
stimulates  the  brighter  pupils  by  requiring  them,  to  use  their  superior  ability. 

[42] 


Reconstructed  form.  Two  sentences  tied  together  and  parallel 
construction  used. 

Thus  the  duller  pupils  by  being  able  to  give  some  satisfactory  answers  are 
encouraged,  and  the  brighter  ones  by  being  required  to  use  their  superior  ability 
are  stimulated. 

Awkward  short  sentences. 

They  are  reproduced  as  contributed  by  the  various  teachers,  except  for  minor 
editorial  changes.     Most  of  these  were  made  in  order  to  economize   space. 

Reconstructed  form.  Two  short  sentences  combined  to  make 
one  sentence  by  subordination  of  less  important  thought. 

Except  for  minor  editorial  changes  made  usually  in  order  to  economize  space, 
the  plans  are  reproduced  as  contributed  by  the  various  teachers. 

Clearness  of  thought 

Awkward  separation  of  pronoun  zvhich  and  antecedent. 
Usually  there  will  be  certain  major  divisions  in  pretentious  reports  such  as  a 
thesis,  which  will  appear  as  separate  chapters. 

Reconstructed  form. 

Usually,  in  pretentious  reports  such  as  a  thesis,  there  will  be  certain  major  divi- 
sions which  will  appear  as  separate  chapters. 

Qualifying  clause  tacked  on  at  end  of  sentence. 

The  principal  may  act  as  director,  provided  he  has  had  appropriate  training. 

Reconstructed  form. 

The  principal,  provided  he  has  had  appropriate  training,  may  act  as  director. 

Participial  phrase  separated  from  antecedent. 

Monotonous  reading  is  the  zero  of  expression  involving  absolute  uniform 
pauses. 

Reconstructed  form. 

Monotonous  reading,  involving  absolute  uniform  pauses,  is  the  zero  of 
expression. 

Misplaced  qualifying  clause,  relative  pronoun  omitted. 

The  criticism  is  frequently  made  that  teachers  tend  to  ask  for  unimportant 
details  and  to  neglect  the  minimum  essentials  of  a  subject  in  formulating  examina- 
tion questions  and  therefore  a  pupil's  performance  on  an  examination  is  not  a 
truthful  index  of  the  extent  to  which  he  has  achieved  the  educational  objectives 
set  for  him. 

Reconstructed  form.  Qualifying  clauses  shifted  and  that  re- 
peated in  order  to  bring  out  the  force  of  parallel  construction. 

The  criticism  is  frequently  made  that  teachers,  in  formulating  examination 
questions,  tend  to  ask  for  unimportant  details  and  to  neglect  the  minimum  essentials 
of  a  subject  and  that  a  pupil's  performance  on  an  examination,  therefore,  is  not  a 
truthful  index,  etc. 

[43] 


Faulty  use  of  that;  which  should  be  used  in  those  cases  when 

the  antecedent  is  a  phrase  or  clause;  also  awkward  repetition  of  that. 

For  example,  when  levers  are  studied  in  physics  many  of  the  pupils  can  un- 
doubtedly call  to  mind  applications  of  the  principles  of  the  lever  that  they  have 
seen  outside  of  school  that  are  not  exactly  like  those  described  in  the  textbook  and 
which  therefore  naturally  lead  to  questioning. 

Reconstructed  form. 

For  example,  when  levers  are  studied  in  physics  many  pupils  can  undoubtedly 
call  to  mind  applications  of  the  principles  of  levers  which  are  unlike  those  described 
in  the  textbook  and  which  therefore  naturally  lead  to  questioning. 

Faulty  use  of  zvhich;  when  two  clauses  parallel  in  thought  are 

introduced  the  construction  should  be  parallel. 

Occasionally  it  is  permissible  for  the  teacher  to  repeat  a  pupil's  answer  in 
part,  at  the  same  time  elaborating  it  by  adding  details  that  she  alone  can  give  or 
which  are  not  worth  the  time  that  would  be  required  to  elicit  them  from  the  class. 

Reconstructed  form. 

Occasionally  the  teacher  may  repeat  a  pupil's  answer  in  part,  elaborating  it  by 
adding  details  that  she  alone  can  give  or  that  are  not  worth  the  time  required  to 
be  elicited  from  the  class. 

Split  compound  verb. 

Around  these  central  questions  should  be  arranged  the  minor  and  more  detailed 
questions  which  may,  and  sometimes  must,  to  some  ex.tent,  be  thought  out  while 
the  recitation  is  in  progress. 

Reconstructed  form. 

Around  these  central  questions  should  be  arranged  the  minor  and  more  detailed 
questions  which  to  some  extent  may  be  thought  out  while  the  recitation  is  in 
progress. 

Split  infinitive. 

If  a  selection  is  so  difficult  as  to  greatly  retard  progress,  etc. 

Reconstructed  form. 

If  a  selection  is  so  difficult  as  greatly  to  retard  progress,  etc. 

Misplaced  only. 

In  either  case  the  cards  should  only  be  exposed  for  a  brief  period  of  time. 

Reconstructed  form. 

In  either  case  the  cards  should  be  exposed  only  for  a  brief  period  of  time. 

Failure  to  follow  ?iot  only,  but  also,  by  the  same  grammatical 

construction. 

Not  only  is  it  important  that  the  teacher  stimulate  the  pupils  to  ask  questions 
but  also  that  she  direct  them  in  the  kinds  of  questions  to  be  asked. 


[44] 


Reconstructed  form. 

It  is  important  not  only  that  the  teacher  stimulate  the  pupils  to  ask  questions 
but  also  that  she  guide  them  to  formulate  suitable  questions. 

Faulty  shifting  from  parallel  construction  in  the  case  of  phrases 
that  are  similar  in  importance. 

Lack,  of  comprehension  may  be  due  to  several  causes  such  as  a  lack  of  a  good 
method  of  silent  reading,  lack  of  practice  in  reading  silently  with  care  and  not 
being  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  necessary  vocabulary. 

Reconstructed  form. 

Failure  to  comprehend  may  be  due  to  several  causes  such  as  lack  of  a  good 
method  of  silent  reading,  lack  of  practice  in  reading  silently  with  care  and  lack  of 
sufficient  acquaintance  with  the  necessary  vocabulary. 

Awkward  sentence  because  of  shifting  in  form  of  questions. 

Such  questions  as  how  many  years  has  the  pupil  been  in  school;  what  grade 
or  grades  did  he  skip;  did  he  ever  fail  to  be  promoted,  why;  has  attendance  been 
regular  or  irregular,  causes  of  irregularity;  what  is  the  attitude  of  the  pupil  toward 
the  teacher  and  toward  the  school,  etc. 

Reconstructed  form.  Parallel  construction  emphasized  by  use  of 
nouns  throughout  instead  of  hozv  many,  why,  zvhat. 

Information  such  as:  number  of  years  the  pupil  has  been  in  school;  grade  or 
grades  skipped;  failure  of  promotion  and  reason;  attendance  regular  or  irregular, 
and  the  cause  of  irregularity;  attitude  of  the  pupil  toward  the  teacher  and  toward 
the  school,  etc. 

Awkward  sentence  because  of  varied  construction. 

The  publishers  now  generally  meet  the  approved  standards  in  the  matter  of 
print,  putting  out  books  for  very  young  children  in  large-sized  type  and  for  those 
who  have  been  able  to  adjust  their  eyes  to  a  more  limited  space  smaller  print 
is  used. 

Reconstructed  form.  Parallel  construction  used  for  the  two 
clauses  similar  in  thought. 

The  publishers  now  generally  meet  the  approved  standards  in  the  matter  of 
print;  large-sized  type  is  used  in  books  for  very  young  children  and  smaller  type 
for  those  who  are  able  to  adjust  their  eyes  to  a  more  limited  space. 

Needless  shifting  of  subject  causing  indefinite  use  of  them  and 
their. 

The  complaint  frequently  is  made  that  when  the  children  in  the  first  grade 
take  their  readers  home  the  parents  in  endeavoring  to  help  their  children  often  retard 
their  progress. 

Reconstructed  form. 

The  complaint  frequently  is  made  that  when  children  in  the  first  grade  take 
their  readers  home  they  are  often  retarded  in  their  progress  because  of  help  given  by 
their  parents. 

[45] 


Needless  shifting  of  subject. 

Similarity  between  the  word  in  question  and  other  words  should  be  pointed 
out  and  the  pupil  should  be  required  to  sound  them  out  not  once  but  many  times. 
Wrong  accents  should  receive  attention  in  requiring  the  pupil  to  use  the  trouble- 
some word  as  often  as  possible  in  his  speech  so  that  the  correct  form  will  become 
established. 

Reconstructed  form. 

The  attention  of  the  pupil  should  be  called  to  the  similarity  between  the  un- 
known word  and  other  words  of  which  he  knows  the  correct  pronunciation.  He 
should  then  be  required  to  sound  out  the  unfamiliar  word  not  once  but  many 
times,  and  in  order  to  establish  the  correct  pronunciation  he  should  be  encouraged 
to  use  the  troublesome  word  as  often  as  possible  in  his  speech. 

Awkward  sentence,  because  of  lack  of  consistency  In  construction. 

An  exception  to  this  may  be  made  in  the  case  of  timid  pupils  who  would  be 
dismayed  by  having  their  names  called  after  a  question  had  been  asked  and  then 
being  expected  to  answer  at  once.  If  such  pupils  are  named  first  they  are  given  a 
brief  opportunity  of  collecting  their  thoughts  and  they  are  encouraged. 

Reconstructed  form.  Two  sentences  combined  and  parallel  con- 
struction used. 

An  exception  may  be  made  in  the  case  of  timid  pupils  who  would  be  dismayed 
by  having  their  names  called  after  a  question  had  been  asked  but  who  by  being 
named  first  are  given  a  brief  opportunity  to  collect  their  thoughts  and  are  thus 
encouraged  to  prepare  their  answers. 

Emphasis 

Sentence  weakened  because  subordinate  clause  is  given  emphatic 
position  at  end. 

Frequently  an  abbreviated  plan  will  be  satisfactory,  particularly  after  the 
teacher  has  had  a  year  or  two  of  experience. 

Reconstructed  form. 

After  the  teacher  has  had  a  year  or  two  of  experience,  an  abbreviated  plan 
frequently  will  be  satisfactory-. 

Sentence  weakened  by  indefinite  use  o/  it. 

It,  therefore,  seems  wise  to  use  as  the  basis  for  comparison  a  mental  age  norm 
which  takes  into  account  the  general  intelligence  of  the  pupil  rather  than  a  grade 
norm. 

Reconstructed  form. 

A  mental  age  norm,  which  takes  into  account  the  general  intelligence  of  the 
pupil,  seems  a  better  basis  for  comparison  than  a  grade  norm. 

Sentence  weakened  by  tacked-on  prepositional  phrase. 

Scientific  investigation  of  the  marking  of  examination  papers,  as  usually  done, 
has  been  sufficiently  extensive  to  prove  that  the  process  is  subjective,  except  in  a 
very  few  instances. 

[46] 


Reconstructed  form. 

Scientific  investigation  of  the  marking  of  examination  papers  has  been  suffi- 
ciently extensive  to  prove  that,  except  in  a  very  few  instances,  the  process  is 
subjective. 

Main  idea  not  emphasized  because  of  its  position  in  middle  of 
sentence. 

Inferior  performances  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  term  will  tend  to  be  o\"er- 
shadowed  and  the  teachers  estimates  will  be  based  largely  upon  their  work  during 
the  last  few  weeks  of  the  term  unless  the  final  estimate  is  based  upon  estimates 
made  at  intervals  during  the  term. 

Reconstructed  form. 

Unless  careful  records  have  been  kept  throughout  the  term,  inferior  per- 
formances at  the  beginning  tend  to  be  overshadowed  and  the  teacher's  final  estimate 
is  based  upon  the  work  of  the  last  few  weeks. 

Emphasis  thwarted  because  main  idea  is  expressed  in  a  de- 
pendent clause. 

There  are  reasons  why  a  student  of  high  achie\'ements  might  make  a  low 
grade  on  a  single  examination. 

Reconstructed  form. 

For  certain  reasons  students  whose  achievements  are  ordinarily  high  may 
make  low  grades  on  a  single  examination. 

Sentence  not  incorrect,  but  in  reconstructed  form  is  made  more 
emphatic  by  use  of  precise  terms  and  by  lack  of  repetition  of 
''diagnosis." 

There  are  of  course  no  dividing  lines  between  the  three  types  of  "complete 
diagnosis,  partial  diagnosis,  and  general  diagnosis." 

Reconstructed  form. 

There  are  of  course  no  sharply  defined  lines  of  demarcation  between  the  three 
degrees  of  diagnosis,  complete,  partial  and  general. 


[47] 


CHAPTER  IV 

PROCESS  OF  WRITING  A  REPORT 

In  the  Introduction  it  was  asserted  that  a  writer's  purpose 
should  be  to  guide  a  reader  first  to  define  the  problem  clearly  and 
then  to  think  about  it  in  such  a  way  that  he  will  arrive  at  a  solution 
which  he  will  accept  as  dependable.  A  prerequisite  for  the  realization 
of  this  purpose  is  clear  and  critical  thinking  about  the  problem  by  the 
writer. 

These  two  principles  should  guide  a  writer  in  all  stages  of  his 
work.  He  can  accomplish  little  until  he  has  clearly  defined  his  prob- 
lem and  has  thought  out  a  solution  which  he  himself  is  prepared  to 
defend.  Hence,  in  the  early  stages  of  his  work  his  attention  should  be 
focused  upon  the  prerequisite  thinking.  In  Improving  the  manuscript 
after  a  complete  draft  has  been  prepared,  he  should  criticize  it  with 
reference  to  its  service  to  a  reader  and  should  make  such  alterations 
as  in  his  judgment  will  make  the  report  more  effective  in  fulfilling  its 
purpose.  In  the  revision  of  a  manuscript,  he  should  also  criticize  his 
thinking  and  endeavor  to  refine  it. 

Definition  of  problem  a  preliminary  step.  Preliminary  to  the 
writing  of  a  report  the  writer  should  define  his  problem  in  his  own 
mind.  He  should  seek  a  clear  understanding  of  the  questions  which 
he  will  attempt  to  answer.  Usually  he  will  find  it  helpful  to  set  down 
these  questions  in  writing,  indicating  the  ones  that  are  subordinate. 
The  following  questions  are  some  which  would  be  formulated  in  de- 
fining the  problem:  "What  is  the  status  of  supervised  study  in 
secondary  schools.'" 

What  is  the  learning  process.'' 

What  is  supervised  study? 

What  is  Its  relation  to  the  learning  process? 

What  is  the  relation  of  supervised  study  to  the  recitation  and  to  other  phases 
of  the  teacher's  work? 

How  is  provision  made  for  supervised  study  in  the  organization  of  the  school? 

W'hat  procedures  do  teachers  employ  in  the  supervision  of  study? 

Are  these  procedures  the  same  for  all  subjects?    How  do  they  differ? 

What  do  we  know  about  the  merits  of  various  administrative  provisions  for 
supervised  study? 

What  do  we  know  about  the  merits  of  procedures  that  teachers  employ? 

[48] 


IMany  educational  problems  are  related  to  other  problems  so 
that  a  comprehensive  study  of  one  leads  naturally  to  a  consideration 
of  others.  For  practical  reasons  it  is  usually  necessary,  or  at  least 
desirable,  for  a  writer  to  restrict  his  endeavors.  In  defining  his 
problem  he  should  indicate  any  restrictions  that  he  intends  to  make. 
In  the  case  of  the  problem  above  relating  to  the  status  of  supervised 
study,  he  might  limit  his  report  to  certain  school  subjects  or  to 
certain  types  of  learning.  Again  he  might  limit  it  either  to  the  admin- 
istrative provisions  for  supervised  study  or  to  the  procedures  em- 
ployed by  teachers.  Another  type  of  limitation  may  be  made  with 
reference  to  the  data  upon  which  the  report  will  be  based.  For 
example,  a  writer  might  specify  that  his  answers  will  be  based  only 
upon  data  obtainable  in  published  reports. 

A  writer  has  considerable  freedom  in  setting  the  limits  for  his 
investigation,  but  he  should  bear  in  mind  that  the  reader's  evaluation 
of  his  work  will  depend  in  part  upon  the  scope  of  the  problem 
treated.  If  too  much  restricted,  the  reader  will  not  place  a  high  value 
upon  the  report.  On  the  other  hand,  if  restrictions  are  not  mentioned 
he  may  feel  that  certain  aspects,  which  he  considers  important  but 
which  the  writer  intentionally  omitted,  have  been  neglected. 

General  plan  of  report  formulated  in  an  outline  and  brief.  A 
writer  needs  an  outline  for  much  the  same  reason  that  a  contractor 
needs  blue-prints  and  specifications  for  a  building.  The  outline  serves 
as  a  guide  as  he  works  upon  the  various  details  and  enables  him  to 
stick  to  his  problem. 

After  having  clearly  defined  his  problem  the  writer  should  pre- 
pare an  outline  indicating  the  major  divisions  of  the  report  and  their 
sequence.  Under  each  of  the  major  divisions  he  should  formulate 
the  more  important  sub-divisions  until  he  has  a  reasonably  complete 
plan  of  the  entire  report. 

Although  it  is  usually  desirable  for  a  writer  to  prepare  a  some- 
what detailed  outline  in  written  form,  this  should  be  followed  by  a 
brief.  An  outline  usually  consists  of  separate  words  or  short  phrases 
which  announce  the  topics  or  points  that  will  be  taken  up  in  the  re- 
port. A  brief  does  more  than  this;  it  expresses  In  abbreviated  form 
the  principal  statements  to  be  made  on  each  sub-topic  or  point. 
Illustrations  showing  the  difference  between  an  outline  and  the  cor- 
responding brief  on  the  topic,  "Written  Expression  as  a  Type  of 
Learning,"  are  given  below, 

[49] 


THE  OUTLINE 

I.  Relation  of  Organization  of  Ideas  to  Textbook  Reading. 

II.  Relation  of  Expression  of  Ideas  to  Learning. 

III.  Clear  Thinking  and  Expression  of  Ideas. 

IV.  The  Brief  Compared  with  an  Outline. 
V.  Making  a  Brief. 

(a)  Principal  points. 

(b)  Subordinate  points. 

(c)  Revision. 

THE    BRIEF 

I.     Organization  of   ideas  supplements  the  learning  resulting  from   the  reading  of 
a  textbook. 
II.     Expression  of  ideas  is  an  important  learning  exercise. 

III.  Clear  thinking  is  a  prerequisite  for  effective  expression.  When  one  has  clear 
ideas  it  is  usually  easy  to  express  them. 

IV.  A  brief  differs  from  an  outline  in  that  it  consists  of  phrases  or  sentences 
which  express  ideas  instead  of  merely  words  or  phrases  which  announce  topics 
about  which  something  will  be  said. 

V.     The  steps  in  making  a  brief  are: 

(a)  Clearly  define  your  purpose. 

(b)  Formulate  the  principal  and  subordinate  points  of  the  discussion  in  com- 
plete sentences. 

(c)  Organize  these  so  that  they  will  present  a  satisfactory  "trend  of  thought." 

(d)  Test   each    statement    for    precision   and   for   its    relation    to    the   problem 
being  considered. 

A  carefully  prepared  brief  an  aid  to  writing.  A  brief  is  even 
more  helpful  to  a  writer  than  an  outline.  It  epitomizes  his  "trend 
of  thought."  In  the  making  of  a  brief  little  writing  is  required,  and 
he  has  an  opportunity  to  concentrate  upon  thinking  about  the  prob- 
lem. Details  may  be  neglected  for  the  time  being.  A  distinct  ser- 
vice which  the  brief  renders  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  represents  a 
more  advanced  stage  of  thinking  about  the  problem  than  the  outline. 

Final  form  of  a  report  the  product  of  revision.  A  well-written 
report  is  seldom  attained  in  the  first  draft,  even  though  a  detailed 
brief  has  been  previously  prepared.  Most  successful  writers,  even 
after  years  of  experience,  are  accustomed  to  refine  their  reports 
through  a  series  of  revisions.  Occasionally  there  is  a  writer  who 
possesses  unusual  ability  in  organizing  and  expressing  his  ideas  and 
who  for  that  reason  is  able  to  produce  a  creditable  report  at  the 
first  writing.  However,  such  persons  are  rare  and  they  probably 
could  produce  better  reports  if  they  carefully  revised  their  manu- 
scripts. 

In  the  following  discussion,  the  two  steps  in  the  preparation  of 
a  report,  writing  the  first  draft  and  revision  of  the  manuscript,  will 
be  treated  separately. 

[50] 


A.    PREPARING  A  PRELIMINARY  WORKING  DRAFT 
OF  A  REPORT 

Criteria  for  good  writing  should  be  observed.  In  preparing  the 
first  or  working  draft  of  a  report  all  of  the  criteria  for  good  writing 
should  be  observed  so  far  as  possible,  but  the  writer's  attention 
should  be  focused  upon  "trend  of  thought"  and  "evaluation  of  ideas;' 
If  a  brief  has  been  prepared,  the  general  pattern  of  this  "trend  of 
thought"  will  have  been  formulated  but  the  details  are  filled  in  during 
the  writing  of  the  first  draft.  As  this  is  done,  the  writer  may  find  it 
necessary  to  make  changes  in  the  organization  of  the  report  in  order 
to  secure  an  effective  "trend  of  thought." 

The  evaluation  of  ideas  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks  which 
a  writer  encounters.  It  is  essential  to  eliminate  all  irrelevant  state- 
ments from  the  report  as  well  as  to  include  everything  that  should 
be  said.  The  inclusion  of  too  many  details  will  bewilder  most  read- 
ers and  the  omission  of  pertinent  material  will  leave  them  in  doubt. 
In  preparing  the  first  draft  a  writer  should  include  material  when  he 
is  not  certain  that  it  should  be  eliminated.  Frequently  the  value  of 
a  sentence,  a  paragraph  or  even  a  series  of  paragraphs  cannot  be 
estimated  until  tried  out  in  the  manuscript.  If  later  such  material 
is  found  to  contribute  little  or  nothing  to  the  discussion  of  the  prob- 
lem, it  should  be  stricken  out  during  the  process  of  revision. 

Paragraph  headings.  Carefully  formulated  paragraph  headings 
are  now  generally  used  in  textbooks,  monographs,  and  bulletins  to 
assist  the  reader  in  getting  the  general  "trend  of  thought."  They 
also  assist  the  writer  in  that  they  provide  a  series  of  specific  ideas 
for  him  to  think  and  write  about  with  the  result  that  much  greater 
unity  and  coherence  are  likely  to  be  attained.  Some  writers  have 
found  it  very  helpful  to  formulate  the  paragraph  headings  for  a 
report  or  for  a  major  division  of  it  before  beginning  the  actual  writ- 
ing. If  a  somewhat  detailed  brief  has  been  prepared,  many  of  the 
paragraph  headings  can  be  taken  directly  from  it.  A  good  test  in 
fact  for  paragraph  headings  is  that  when  assembled  they  form  a 
reasonably  satisfactory  brief. 

It  is  unnecessary  and  frequently  undesirable  to  have  a  separate 
heading  for  each  paragraph.  However,  whenever  a  new  unit  of  the 
discussion  is  taken  up,  there  should  be  a  paragraph  heading  which 
indicates  to  the  reader  the  nature  of  the  "trend  of  thought"  immedi- 
ately following  and  its  relation  to  the  problem  being  considered. 

[51] 


Formation  of  new  paragraphs.  In  writing,  a  new  paragraph 
should  be  formed  whenever  a  new  point  is  taken  up  or  the  "trend 
of  thought"  changed.  If  in  doubt  when  writing  the  first  draft  it  is 
well  to  form  a  new  paragraph,  as  combinations  can  easily  be  made 
in  the  revision. 

Order  of  writing  chapters.  In  the  case  of  a  report  consisting  of 
several  chapters  it  is  sometimes  desirable  to  revise  the  preliminary 
drafts  of  some  of  the  earlier  chapters  before  writing  the  later  ones. 
Some  chapters  even  may  be  left  incomplete  while  other  sections  of 
the  report  are  taken  up.  Some  writers  have  found  it  undesirable  to 
spend  much  time  over  tedious  details  in  the  first  draft,  because  when 
working  on  details  one  tends  to  lose  sight  of  the  general  "trend  of 
thought."  However,  there  usually  comes  a  time  when  it  is  advisable 
to  prepare  a  complete  preliminary  draft  of  the  report  in  order  that 
each  part  may  be  judged  in  its  relation  to  all  others. 

Physical  form  of  working  drafts.  In  preliminary  drafts  margins 
of  at  least  an  inch  and  a  half  should  be  left  at  the  top  and  on  the 
left-hand  side.  The  margins  on  the  right  and  at  the  bottom  may  be 
somewhat  narrower.  Some  writers  find  it  desirable  to  have  even 
wider  margins.  If  the  draft  is  typewritten,  it  should  be  double- 
spaced. 

All  tables  except  very  short  ones  should  be  placed  on  separate 
sheets  which  contain  no  text  so  that  they  can  be  inserted  easily  in 
a  revised  manuscript.  Failure  to  observe  this  rule  will  result  in 
considerable  waste  of  time  in  copying  tables.  In  order  to  facilitate 
insertions  and  other  changes,  it  is  wise  to  begin  each  major  division 
and  many  of  the  subordinate  divisions  on  a  new  page.  Even  in  the 
case  of  paragraphs  it  is  usually  desirable  to  begin  a  new  page  w^hen 
the  preceding  paragraph  ends  in  the  last  third  of  a  page.  An  excep- 
tion to  this  suggestion  may  be  made  in  the  case  of  a  short  paragraph 
which  can  be  completed  in  the  remaining  space  on  the  page.  Some- 
times it  is  helpful  to  leave  spaces  between  paragraphs  for  insertions. 

Only  one  side  of  the  paper  should  be  written  on.  If  the  writer 
feels  that  he  should  economize  in  the  use  of  paper,  he  may  use  the 
reverse  side  of  the  sheets  of  a  discarded  manuscript,  as  the  incon- 
venience due  to  writing  on  both  sides  of  the  paper  in  the  same  draft 
is  almost  certain  to  cause  losses  in  time  which  much  more  than  off- 
set the  small  saving  of  paper.  Incidentally,  it  may  be  remarked  that 
a  writer  can  save  more  paper  by  giving  attention  to  the  necessary 

[52] 


prerequisite  thinking  than  by  crowding  margins  or  by  writing  on 
both  sides  of  the  sheet. 

Correct  bibHographical  forms  should  be  observed  in  the  foot- 
notes of  prehminary  drafts  of  a  manuscript.  Care  also  should  be 
exercised  to  spell  all  words  correctly  and  attention  should  be  given 
to  capitalization,  punctuation,  and  other  technical  details  of  form. 
If  this  is  not  done,  some  of  the  errors  appearing  in  the  preliminary 
drafts  are  almost  certain  to  persist  in  the  final  form  of  the  manu- 
script. 

The  position  of  footnotes.  In  a  manuscript,  footnotes  should 
appear  on  the  line  immediately  following  that  in  which  the  reference 
is  made  and  should  be  separated  from  the  text  by  triple-spacing  or 
by  horizontal  lines  drawn  immediately  above  and  below  the  footnote.* 

*For  example,  a  footnote  given  at  this  point  should  be  placed  in  this  position 
and  set  off  as  indicated. 

An  exception  to  this  rule  is  made  in  those  manuscripts  when  the 
typewritten  copy  is  the  only  record  preserved  as  in  an  unpublished 
thesis.  In  such  cases  the  footnotes  should  be  shifted  to  the  bottom 
of  the  page  in  the  final  typing. 

In  the  working  drafts  of  a  manuscript  the  footnotes  should  be 
indicated  by  an  asterisk  (*).  In  the  final  drafts  they  are  sometimes 
numbered  consecutively  throughout  a  chapter,  as  this  practice  simpli- 
fies the  work  of  the  printer.  However,  some  publishers  prefer  to 
number  the  footnotes  consecutively  on  each  page. 

B.    REVISING   THE   MANUSCRIPT 

Application  of  criteria  for  judging  a  report,  the  basis  for  re- 
vision. The  process  of  revising  a  manuscript  involves  applying  the 
criteria  given  on  pages  13  to  16  and  then  making  the  changes  neces- 
sary to  remove  the  deficiencies  and  errors  revealed.  Thus  as  a  pre- 
liminary to  the  actual  work  of  revision,  a  writer  should  become 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  these  criteria.  However,  he  should  not 
seek  to  apply  all  of  them  at  once.  Those  given  under  "general 
structure,"  and  "development,  evaluation  and  organization  of  ideas" 
should  receive  attention  first,  as  the  time  devoted  to  correcting  details 
of  structure  and  form  will  be  wasted  if  later  it  is  necessary  to  make 
major  changes. 

Re-thinking  required.  A  revision  of  a  manuscript  is  not  accom- 
plished by  merely  correcting  rhetorical  and  grammatical  errors  and 

I  S3} 


misspelled  words.  The  definition  of  the  problem  and  its  solution 
should  be  carefully  retraced  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  "trend 
of  thought,"  the  development  and  evaluation  of  ideas,  and  the  pre- 
cision of  statement.  A  writer  should  try  to  approach  the  task  of 
revising  his  manuscript  with  the  attitude  of  a  critical  reader.  He 
should  constantly  ask:  "Will  the  sentences  and  paragraphs  which 
have  been  set  down  guide  a  reader  to  define  the  problem  and  to 
think  about  it  in  a  satisfying  way?"  "Has  anything  been  left  unsaid 
which  would  be  helpful:"  "Has  anything  been  said  which  is  not 
useful?"  "Is  there  any  statement  which  a  critical  reader  will  be 
likely  to  criticize?" 

Criticizing  one's  own  writing  is  difficult  because  one  is  handi- 
capped in  adopting  the  impersonal  and  detached  attitude  which  is 
necessary,  but  such  criticism  is  essential  in  the  production  of  good 
writing.  One  should  therefore  cultivate  the  art  of  criticism,  particu- 
larly with  reference  to  the  development,  evaluation  and  organization 
of  ideas. 

Major  reorganizations.  Frequently  a  writer  will  find  it  neces- 
sary to  make  certain  major  changes.  The  order  of  certain  chapters 
may  need  to  be  interchanged.  The  position  of  a  paragraph  or  of  a 
series  of  paragraphs  may  need  to  be  shifted.  Some  paragraphs 
which  were  written  only  after  much  effort  may  prove  of  so  little 
value  that  they  should  be  eliminated. 

Improvement  of  sentence  structure.  Frequently  sentences  and 
even  paragraphs  need  to  be  rewritten  in  order  to  secure  more  effect- 
ive expression.  Sometimes  the  desired  result  can  be  accomplished  by 
varying  one's  diction.  Qualifying  phrases  and  clauses  may  be  shifted, 
short  sentences  may  be  combined  and  in  other  cases  long  ones  broken 
up.  Unnecessary  shifting  of  voice,  tense  or  person  should  be  elimi- 
nated. A  writer  should  never  hesitate  to  rewrite  a  paragraph  if  he 
feels  that  he  can  improve  it.  (See  Chapter  HI  for  detailed  sugges- 
tions and  illustrations.) 

Correction  of  errors.  The  final  step  in  revising  a  manuscript  is 
to  correct  all  remaining  errors  of  grammar,  spelling  and  punctuation. 
Much  of  this  work  will  have  been  done  in  the  preceding  stages  of  the 
revision,  but  there  should  be  a  final  going  over  of  the  entire  manu- 
script for  the  purpose  of  eliminating  errors  of  any  kind. 

Economy  of  time  in  revision.  The  several  phases  of  the  work 
of  revising  the  manuscript  should  be  taken  up  in  the  order  in  which 

[54] 


they  have  been  presented  In  the  preceding  discussion.  As  we  have 
already  indicated,  time  is  hkely  to  be  wasted  if  some  of  the  later 
phases  are  undertaken  before  the  major  changes  have  been  made. 

A  writer  should  not  consume  time  in  unnecessary  copying. 
Frequently  scissors  and  paste  can  be  used  to  advantage  in  making 
changes  in  the  order  of  a  report.  Corrections  can  be  written  between 
the  lines  and  on  the  margins.  Insertions  can  be  placed  on  separate 
pages  with  appropriate  indications  of  their  positions.  It  is  a  waste 
of  time  to  copy  a  manuscript  before  a  fresh  draft  is  needed.  How- 
ever, when  a  critical  reading  of  the  manuscript  is  made  difficult  or 
impossible  because  the  changes  in  it  are  distracting  or  confusing, 
the  entire  manuscript,  except  whole  pages  which  are  unmutllated, 
should  be  copied  in  typewritten  form  If  possible.  A  fresh  manuscript 
often  will  stimulate  a  writer  to  higher  levels  of  effectiveness  in  his 
writing:. 


[55] 


CHAPTER  V 

PREPARATION  OF  MANUSCRIPT  FOR  PRINTER 

In  addition  to  the  general  directions  regarding  the  Final  Form 
of  the  Manuscript  given  in  Chapter  IV,  the  following  suggestions^ 
are  offered  in  the  hope  that  they  will  be  of  use  to  the  writer  in  pre- 
paring his  manuscript  for  the  printer  and  in  handling  the  proofs 
received. 

Necessity  for  care  and  consistency  in  manuscript  submitted  to 
printer.  Although  all  first-class  publishing  houses  have  their  own 
rules  of  style  and  edit  manuscripts  accepted  for  publication,  it  is  well 
for  each  writer  to  prepare  his  manuscript  with  due  care  and  to  keep 
in  mind  that  all  corrections  and  alterations  made  after  the  material 
has  been  set  in  type  cause  both  expense  and  delay  in  publication. 
If  a  linotype  machine  is  used,  as  is  generally  the  case,  the  insertion 
or  change  of  a  single  letter  or  punctuation  mark  causes  the  resetting 
of  an  entire  line,  and  a  change  in  a  word  or  phrase  may  involve  the 
resetting  of  the  paragraph  from  that  point. 

It  is  especially  important  that  the  author  be  consistent  through- 
out his  manuscrip't,  in  the  use  of  capitals,  hyphenated  words,  punctu- 
ation marks,  spelling  of  proper  names,  and  so  forth.  He  should  remem- 
ber that  his  copy  probably  will  be  distributed  among  several  compos- 
itors, all  working  on  it  at  once,  and  no  one  of  them  may  know  the 
particular  rules  of  style  which  are  being  observed  by  the  others.  The 
proofreader  may  catch  and  point  out  inconsistencies,  but  in  many 
cases  they  are  overlooked  and  remain  to  trouble  both  the  writer  and 
his  readers  ever  after.  A  good  exhortation  to  keep  in  mind  is,  "Do 
not  let  your  manuscript  go  to  the  printer  until  you  have  written 
every  word  just  as  you  wish  it  in  type,  and  until  all  matters  of 


'These  suggestions  refer  only  to  the  simple  directions  that  should  be  known  to 
every  writer  who  submits  his  manuscript  for  publication.  For  more  detailed  in- 
structions the  following  publications  may  be  consulted: 

Manly,  John  Matthews,  and  Powell,  John  Arthur.  A  Manual  for  Writ- 
ers.    Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1922.     225  p. 

Manual  of  Style.     Chicago:  The  University  of  Chicago  Press.  1911.     118  p. 

The  Manuscript.  440  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York  City,  New  York:  John 
Wiley  and  Sons,  Inc.,  1924.     52  p. 

[56] 


capitalization,  punctuation,  paragraphing,  and  so  forth  have  been 
brought  into  consistency  and  uniformity  throughout,  and  set  your 
face  steadfastly  against  changes  in  the  proof  which  are  not  essential 
to  correctness  of  statement  or  to  consistency  of  style." 

Marking  of  manuscript  for  printer.  Although  it  is  not  necessary 
for  the  individual  writer  to  give  much  attention  to  printers'  details, 
he  should  understand  enough  of  the  technical  side  of  printing  to 
know  those  things  which  he  can  do  in  order  to  bring  about  closer 
cooperation  between  himself  and  the  publisher.  In  the  majority  of 
cases  the  writer  will  not  have  to  decide  regarding  the  size  of  type 
to  be  used  for  the  body  of  the  manuscript,  especially  if  the  report 
is  to  appear  in  a  periodical  or  in  a  bulletin  series.  He  should,  how- 
ever, indicate  his  preferences  regarding  the  use  of  large  or  small 
capitals,  italics,  or  bold-face  type.  For  this  purpose  the  following 
technical  marks,  preferabh'  made  in  colored  ink,  should  be  used: 

To  indicate  that  large  capital  letters  are  desired,  draw  three  lines 
(  —)j  and  to  indicate  small  capitals,  draw  two  lines  (  —) 

under  the  letter  or  word  to  be  capitalized. 

To  indicate  italic  type,  underscore  with  a  straight  line  ( — — ■ ) . 

To  indicate  black  or  bold-face  tvpe,  underscore  with  a  wavy 
line  ( ). 

If  the  author  wishes  certain  headings  or  selections  to  appear  in 
larger  or  in  smaller  type  than  the  text  proper,  he  should  draw  a  line 
indicating  that  portion  and  mark  "larger  type"  or  "smaller  type" 
in  the  margin.  Usually  a  difference  of  two  points-  is  made  in  the  size 
of  type  selected  for  such  purposes.  Thus,  if  the  text  proper  is  in  ten 
or  eleven  point  type  the  quoted  matter,  footnotes,  and  so  forth 
would  appear  in  eight  or  nine  point;  the  headings,  chapter  titles,  and 
so  forth,  in  twelve  or  even  in  fourteen  point. 

If  the  author  desires  certain  sections  to  be  placed  on  a  page 
alone,  or  to  begin  a  new  page,  he  should  direct  the  printer  accord- 
ingly by  marking  the  exact  place  in  his  manuscript  and  writing  "new 
page"  in  the  margin. 

The  approximate  positions  of  the  tables,  graphs,  and  illustrations 
should   be   indicated   on   the   manuscript.     It  is   best   to  have   such 


"The  term  '"point"  is  the  standard  of  measurement  for  type,  the  unit  being  I 
point  or  ^2  of  an  inch.  For  example,  the  text  of  this  bulletin  is  printed  in  10  pt. 
type,  16  words  to  a  square  inch;  the  footnotes  and  quoted  passages  are  in  8  pt., 
23  words  to  a  square  inch. 

[57] 


material  follow,  as  soon  as  possible,  the  first  reference  made  to  it 
in  the  text.  The  printer  may  have  to  make  slight  shifts  in  fitting 
the  material  into  the  page,  but  the  writer  should  mark  in  the  margin 
"Table  I  about  here,"  or  "Table  I  as  soon  as  possible  after  this 
point." 

If  for  any  reason  a  word  or  a  section  of  the  manuscript  has 
been  marked  out  which  the  author  wishes  to  be  replaced,  he  should 
draw  a  line  around  the  deleted  portions  and  mark  "stet"  in  the 
margin. 

Illustrations,  such  as  drawings,  photographs  or  graphs,  for 
which  zinc  etchings,  half-tone  plates  or  other  processes  of  photo- 
gravure are  necessary  for  printing,  should  be  placed  on  a  separate 
sheet  and  the  caption  or  title  written  on  the  back.  Any  general 
directions  regarding  the  printing  should  be  written  on  the  back  of 
the  sheet  also. 

The  table  of  contents  should  be  sent  with  the  manuscript  to 
the  printer,  as  it  furnishes  him  with  information  regarding  the  main 
and  the  subdivisions  and  enables  him  to  arrange  to  better  advantage 
the  type  in  the  body  of  the  manuscript. 

Extra  care  should  be  taken  to  let  the  printer  know  exactly  what 
is  desired  when  anything  is  irregular.  Specific  directions,  in  such 
a  case,  should  be  written  in  the  margin. 

When  the  author  has  completed  the  marking  of  his  manuscript, 
he  should  wrap  it  carefully,  or  enclose  it  in  a  large  envelope,  never 
roll  it,  and  send  it  by  insured  mail. 

Correcting  of  galley-proof.  Usually  the  first  proof  sent  by  the 
publisher  is  in  galley  form,  a  sheet  about  three  and  a  half  times  as 
long  as  the  page  to  be  used.  This  should  be  read  carefully  for  errors 
and  necessary  changes.  The  practice  of  having  the  original  copy 
read  aloud  to  the  writer  as  he  corrects  the  proof  is  strongly  recom- 
mended for  he  is  then  able  to  give  his  entire  attention  to  the  printed 
page  and  can  be  more  alert  for  any  omissions  or  mistakes  which  the 
printer  may  have  made,  or  for  any  alterations  which  he  may  feel 
necessary. 

All  changes  and  corrections  should  be  made  on  the  margin  of 
the  proof,  using  standard  proofreader's  marks, ^  and  the  point  at 
which  the  correction  is  to  be  made  indicated  in  the  text. 


'See  the  books  referred  to  on  page  56  for  such  marks. 

[58] 


When  it  is  necessary  to  change  a  word  or  phrase,  if  possible 
the  new  material  selected  should  be  approximately  the  length  of 
that  taken  out  so  that  it  may  be  fitted  into  the  same  space.  The 
addition  or  deletion  of  a  word  may  necessitate  the  resetting  of  an 
entire  paragraph  from  that  point.  If  the  corrections  are  too  numer- 
ous it  is  better  to  rewrite  the  passage,  as  the  printer  often  can  set 
new  material  in  less  time  than  he  can  reset  that  involving  a  great 
number  of  alterations. 

Questions  which  the  proofreader  has  indicated  on  the  margin 
should  not  be  disregarded.  They  are  to  call  attention  to  some  point 
which  in  his  judgment  should  be  answered,  an  obscurity,  an  incon- 
sistency, or  perhaps  only  a  doubt  as  to  the  desirability  of  the  material 
specified.  The  question  may  be  answered  by  either  "yes"  or  "no," 
.  or  the  correction  made.  It  should  not  be  ignored,  however,  as  in 
that  case  the  proofreader  may  assume  the  responsibility  of  making 
changes  as  he  sees  fit. 

The  proof  bearing  the  author's  changes  and  corrections  should 
be  returned  to  the  publisher  with  the  original  manuscript.  If  for 
any  reason  the  author  thinks  it  is  wise  to  see  another  galley-proof 
he  should  mark  on  the  returned  copy,  "See  Revise."  All  proof 
should  be  returned  as  quickly  as  possible  so  as  to  avoid  delay  in 
publication. 

Correcting  of  page-proofs.  Assuming  that  all  the  alterations 
desired  in  the  original  manuscript  have  been  made  on  the  galley- 
proofs,  the  author  should  keep  in  mind  especially  the  following 
items  as  he  carefully  reads  his  page-proofs. 

JMake  sure  that  all  changes  indicated  on  the  galley  have  been 
properly  made. 

See  that  no  lines,  especially  at  the  top  and  at  the  bottom  of 
each  page,  have  been  dropped  from  the  galley. 

See  that  chapter  titles,  running  heads,  (headings  that  appear 
at  the  top  of  every  page)  are  correct  in  every  detail. 

Check  the  page  numbers  throughout  the  manuscript. 

Be  sure  that  footnotes  are  properly  placed  and  correctly  num- 
bered. 

Make  sure  that  tables,  graphs  and  illustrations,  especially  those 
requiring  a  separate  page,  are  properly  placed  and  numbered. 

Read  carefully  the  title  page,  which  usually  is  sent  for  the  first 
time  with  the  page-proof,  to  see  that  all  information  regarding  de- 
grees, profession  and  rank  has  been  accurately  given. 

[59] 


Check  the  page  numbers  in  the  table  of  contents,  hsts  of  tables 
or  illustrations,  and  so  forth. 

If  no  revised  page-proofs  are  desired,  mark  the  copy  '"O.K."  or 
"O.K.  with  alterations,"  and  return  it,  together  with  the  galley- 
proofs,  to  the  printer.  The  author's  work  is  then  finished,  and  he 
can  await,  with  what  patience  he  possesses,  the  publication  of  his 
manuscript. 


[60] 


APPENDIX 

Note: — Because  of  the  fact  that  very  often  title  pages  of  various 
kinds  of  reports  and  of  bulletins  published  privately  omit  certain 
important  items,  several  acceptable  title  pages  of  courses  of  study, 
superintendents'  reports,  surveys  and  bulletins  in  a  private  series 
are  given.  If  at  all  possible,  a  title  page  should  contain  all  of  the 
items  of  information  listed  on  page  36  so  that  it  will  be  possible  for 
the  reader  not  only  to  identify  the  publication  but  also  to  purchase  a 
copy. 


THE  BOARD  OF 
EDUCATION 

OF  THE  City  of  Chicago 
THE  EDUCATION  DIVISION 

The     Office     of     the    Superintendent    of 

Schools,  Department  of  Educational 

Standards    and   Statistics 

Ambrose   B.   Wight 

Assistant    Superintendent,    in    Charge 

ENGLISH  IN  THE  ELEMENTARY 
SCHOOLS 

BULLETIN  NO.  21 


SEPTEMBER 
1921 


Peter  A.  Mortenson 

Superintendent 


REPORT   OF    THE    SUR\EY 

of 

THE    PUBLIC    SCHOOL    SYSTEM 

of 

Lawrence   Township,   Mercer    County, 
New   Jersey 

School    Year,     1921-1922 

Directed  by 

N.  L.  Englehardt 

Professor  of   Education 

Teachers   College,   Columbia   University 

New    York    City 

E.    S.   Evenden 

.Associate     Professor    of     Education 

Teachers    College,    Columbia    University 

New   York  City 

Made  by 

Division  of  Field  Studies 
Institute   of   Educational    Research 

Teachers    College,    Columbia 

University 

New   York  City 


[61] 


COURSE  OF  STUDY 


QUINCY  PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS 

QUINCY,   ILLINOIS 


ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS 
AND  HIGH  SCHOOL 


September  1,  1913 


AUTHORIZED    AND    ORDERED    PRINTED 

BY    THE 

BOARD   OF    EDUCATION 


ANNUAL  REPORT 

OF  THE 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

OF 

SCHUYLER  COUNTY 

1921-1922 


COLVIN  L.  CAIN 

County   Superintendent    of  Schools 
Rushville,    Illinois 


Herald   Print,    Rushville,   Illinois 


ANNUAL  REPORT 


BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 

AND    OF    THE 

SUPERINTENDENT  OF 
SCHOOLS 


CITY  OF  ALBANY,  N.  Y. 

For  the  Year  Ending 

July  31st,  1920 


THE  ARGUS  COMPANY 
1921 


FIFTY-FIFTH 
ANNUAL  REPORT 


SUPERINTENDENT  OF 
PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


QUINCY,  ILLINOIS 

For  the  School   Year   Ending 

June  Thirtieth 

Nineteen  Hundred  Sixteen 


Published    by    Order  of   the 
Board  of  Education 


[62] 


THE  NIAGARA  FALLS 
SCHOOL  SYSTEM 


REPORT  OF  THE  SURVEY  BY 

THE  STATE  DEPARTMENT 

OF  EDUCATION 


ALBANY 
The   University  of  the   State   of 
New  York  Press 
1921 


COURSE  OF  STUDY 

FOR    THE 

ELEMENTARY  GRADES 

OF  THE 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

OF 

Chicago  Heights,  III. 


PUBLISHED    BY    THE    BOARD 
OF    EDUCATION 

1920 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE 

GENERAL   EDUCATION 

BOARD 


Occasional   Papers 

No.  1 

THE  COUNTRY  SCHOOL 
OF  TO-MORROW 

By 
Frederick  T.  Gates 

General  Education  Board 

17  Battery  Place        New  York  City 

1917 


THE  CHICAGO 

PRINCIPALS'   CLUB 

Rose  A.  Pesta,  President 

Bulletin  No.  1,  1923 

SUPERVISION 

A  Platform  and  A  Policy 
REPORT 

By  The   Education  Committee 
The   Chicago   Principals'   Club 
Sub-committee    on   Supervision 
Margaret   Madden,    Chairman 
Daniel  J.  Beeby 
Clyde  A.  Brown 
Wm,    B.    Owen 
Katherine    S.    Rueff 
Sophie   A.   Theilgaard 


Printed   by 

The  D.  S.  Wentworth  School  Press 

Chicago,  Illinois 


[63] 


i 


,>3 


m! 


UNIVERSITY     OF     ILLINOIS     BULLETIN 

Issued  Weekly 
Vol.  XXII  May  18,  1925  No.  38 

[Entered  as  second-class  matter  E>ecember  11,  1912,  at  the  post  ofiBce  at  Urbana,  Illinois,  under  the 
Act  of  August  24,  1912.  Acceptance  for  mailing  at  the  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for  in 
section    1103,  Act  of  October  3,   1917,  authorized  July  31,    1918.] 


BULLETIN  NO.  25 


BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION 


REPORTING   EDUCATIONAL 
RESEARCH 

By 

Walter  S.  Monroe 

Director,  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 

and 

Nell  Bomar  Johnston 
Assistant,  College  of  Education 


PRICE  50  CENTS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS,  URBANA 

1925 


The  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  was  established  by  act 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  June  1,  1918.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the 
Bureau  to  conduct  original  investigations  in  the  field  of  education, 
to  summarize  and  bring  to  the  attention  of  school  people  the  results 
of  research  elsewhere,  and  to  be  of  service  to  the  schools  of  the 
state  in  other  ways. 

The  results  of  original  investigations  carried  on  by  the  Bureau 
of  Educational  Research  are  published  in  the  form  of  bulletins.  A 
complete  list  of  these  publications  is  given  on  the  back  cover  of 
this  bulletin.  At  the  present  time  five  or  six  original  investigations 
are  reported  each  year.  The  accounts  of  research  conducted  else- 
where and  other  communications  to  the  school  men  of  the  state 
are  pubHshed  in  the  form  of  educational  research  circulars.  From 
ten  to  fifteen  of  these  are  issued  each  year. 

The  Bureau  is  a  department  of  the  College  of  Education.  Its 
immediate  direction  is  vested  in  a  Director,  who  is  also  an  instructor 
in  the  College  of  Education.  Under  his  supervision  research  is 
carried  on  by  other  members  of  the  Bureau  staff  and  also  by  grad- 
uates who  are  working  on  theses.  From  this  point  of  view  the 
Bureau  of  Educational  Research  is  a  research  laboratory  for  the 
College  of  Education. 

Bureau  of  Educational  Research 

College  of  Education 

University  of  Illinois,  Urbana 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

THE  STATE  UNIVERSITY 
URBANA 

DAVID  KINLEY,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  President 


The  University  Includes  the  Following  Departments 

The  Graduate  School 

The  College  of  Liberal  Arts  and  Sciences  (Ancient  and -Modern  Languages 
and  Literatures;  History,  Economics,  Political  Science,  Sociology,  Philosophy, 
Psychology,  Education;  Mathematics;  Astronomy;  Geology;  Physics;  Chemistry; 
Botany,  Bacteriology,  Zoology,  Entomology;  Physiology;  Art  and  Design;  Home 
Economics) 

The  College  of  Commerce  and  Business  Administration  (General  Business, 
Banking,  Insurance,  Accountancy,  Railway  Administration,  Railway  Transpor- 
tation, Industrial  Administration,  Foreign  Commerce;  Courses  for  Commercial 
Teachers  and  Commercial  and  Civic  Secretaries;  Commerce  and  Law) 

The  College  of  Engineering  (Architecture;  Architectural,  Ceramic,  Civil,  Elec- 
trical, Gas,  General,  Mechanical,  Mining,  Municipal  and  Sanitary,  Railway  En- 
gineering, and  Engineering  Physics) 

The  College  of  Agriculture  (Agronomy;  Animal  Husbandry;  Dairy  Husbandry; 
Farm  Mechanics,  Farm  Organization  and  Management;  Horticulture,  Landscape 
Gardening,  and  Floriculture;  Agricultural  Extension;  Home  Economics) 

The  College  of  Law  (Three-year  and  four-year  curriculums  based  on  two  years  of 
college  work) 

The  College  of  Education  (General  Education;  Bureau  of  Educational  Research; 
Athletic  Coaching;  Agricultural  Education;  Home  Economics  Education;  Indus- 
trial Education;  Music  Education;  University  High  School) 

The  Curriculum  in  Journalism 

The  Curriculums  in  Chemistry  and  Chemical  Engineering 

The  School  of  Railway  Engineering  and  Administration 

The  School  of  Music  (four-year  curriculum) 

The  Library  School  (two-year  curriculum  for  college  graduates) 

The  College  of  Medicine  (In  Chicago) 

The  College  of  Dentistry  (In  Chicago) 

The  School  of  Pharmacy  (In  Chicago;  Ph.G.  and  Ph.C.  curriculums) 

The  Summer  Session  (eight  weeks) 

Experiment  Stations  and  Scientific  Bureaus:  U.  S.  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station;  Engineering  Experiment  Station;  State  Natural  History  Survey;  Bio- 
logical Experiment  Station  on  Illinois  River;  State  Water  Survey;  State  Geolog- 
ical Survey;  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Mines  Experiment  Station. 

The  library  collections  contain  March   1,   1925,  659,296   volumes  and   127,788 
pamphlets.    For  catalogs  and  information  address 

THE  REGISTRAR 

Urbana,  Illinois 


BULLETINS  OF  THE  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH, 

COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION,  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS, 

URBi\NA.  ILLINOIS 

Price 
No.  I.  Buckingham,  B.  R.    Bureau  of  Educational  Research,  Announcement, 

1918-19 IS 

No.  2.  First  Annual  Report 25 

No.  3^  Bamesberger,  V'elda  C.  Standard  Requirements  for  Memorizing  Lit- 
erary Material 50 

No.  4.  HoUey,  Charles  E.  Mental  Tests  for  School  Use.    (Out  of  print) SO 

No.  5.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  Report  of  Division  of  Educational  Tests  for  1919-20      .25 

No.  6.  Monroe,  Walter  S.    The  Illinois  Examination SO 

No.  7.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  Types  of  Learning  Required  of  Pupils  in  the  Sev- 
enth and  Eighth  Grades  and  in  the  High  School IS 

No.  8.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  A  Critical  Study  of  Certain  Silent  Reading  Tests. .       .50 

No.  9.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  Written  Examinations  and  Their  Improvement SO 

No.  10.  Bureau  of  Educational  Research.   Relation  of  Size  of  Class  to  School 

Efficiency SO 

No.  11.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  Relation  of  Sectioning  a  Qass  to  the  Effectiveness 

of    instruction 15 

No.  12.  Odell,  Charles  W.  The  Use  of  Intelligence  Tests  as  a  Basis  of  School 

Organization  and  Instruction SO 

No.  13.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  and  Foster,  I.  0.  The  Status  of  the  Social  Sciences 

in  the  High  Schools  of  the  North  Central  Association SO 

No.  14.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  and  Carter,  Ralph  E.  The  Use  of  Different  Types 
of  Thought  Questions  in  Secondary  Schools  and  Their  Relative  Dif- 
ficulty for  Students % 30 

No.  15.  Monroe,  Walter  S.  The  Constant  and  Variable  Errors  of  Educational 

Measurements 25 

No.  16.  Odell,  Charles  W.  An  Annotated  Bibliography  Dealing  With  the 
Classification  and  Instruction  of  Pupils  to  Provide  for  Individual 
Differences 50 

No.  17.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  and  Souders,  Lloyd  B.  Present  Status  of  Writ- 
ten Examinations  and  Suggestions  for  Their  Improvement SO 

No.  18.  Streitz,    Ruth.      Teachers'    Difficulties    in    Arithmetic     and    Their 

Correctives 30 

No.  19.  Odell,  Charles  W.   The  Progress  and  Elimination  of  School  Children 

in    Illinois 50 

No.  20.  Monroe,   Walter   S.,    and   Mohlman,   Dora    Keen.    Training    in   the 

Technique  of  Study SO 

No.  21.  Monroe,  Walter  S.   A  Survey  of  the  City  Schools  of  Marion,  Illinois. .       .50 

No.  22.  Odell,  Charles  W.    Conservation  of  Intelligence   in  Illinois  High  Schools       .30 

No.  23.  Streitz,  Ruth.   Teachers'  Difficulties  In  Reading  and  Their  Correctives       .30 

No.  24.  Seybolt,  Robert  Francis.  The  Evening  School  in  Colonial  America 50 

No.  25.  Monroe,  Walter  S.,  and  Johnston,  Nell  Bomar.   Reporting  Educational 

Research 50 


I^FWMW*^         v\  ^^^^^ 


\ 


